Softball Takes Part In The LMU Invitational This Weekend

Friday, March 20

Los Angeles, CA

1:00 pm

UC Riverside

Fairleigh Dickinson

Photo by: Carlos Puma

Softball Takes Part In The LMU Invitational This Weekend

3/16/2015 2:24:00 PM | Softball

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Riverside—The UC Riverside Softball Team prepares for another stretch of five games in three days this week beginning on March 20. The Highlanders will travel to Loyola Marymount to participate in the LMU/Mucsle Milk Inivational II.

During the weekend, the Highlanders will take on Fairleigh Dickinson, Bethune Cookman, Seattle, and LMU.

The Highlanders return to the diamond after splitting a double-header with Weber State at Amy S. Harrison Field March 11. As of March 15, the UCR's team era ranks 29th in the nation and 16th in fielding percentage. Chelsea Ponce's 1.28 era is good for the 27th lowest in the country and she ranks second in victories with 16.

Freshman Rebecca Faulkner rounds out the top-five pitchers in the nation with her four saves so far this season.

At 23-7 overall the Highlanders are off to their best start in the program's Division I-era.

LMU/Muscle Milk Invitational II Game Capsules
	UC Riverside	Fairleigh Dickinson	Bethune Cookman	Seattle	Loyola Marymount
2015 Record & Stats	23-7	2-4	6-20	9-18	15-20
2015 Roster	Roster	Roster	Roster	Roster	Roster
2015 Schedule	Schedule	Schedule	Schedule	Schedule	Schedule
Conference	Big West	Northeast	MEAC	WAC	West Coast
Current Streak	L 1	L 1	W 1	L 1	L 1
Most Recent Box Score	L, 8-0 (6) vs Weber State	L, 8-0 vs LMU	W, 8-1 vs Butler	L, 8-4 vs Texas Tech	L, 5-3 vs Harvard
Next Opponent	3/27 vs Hawai'i	3/25 vs Rider (DH)	3/25 vs Stetson	3/25 vs Northwest	4/2 vs Santa Clara
DI Record vs.		2-0	2-1	2-1	7-23
DI Current Streak vs.		W 2	L 1	W 1	W 1

Projected Highlanders Lineup
(By Position)
Pos	#	Name	Yr	B/T	Avg	OBP	SLG	H	RBI
C	20	Natalie Sanchez	Jr.	R/R	.268	.329	.493	19	16
1B	27	Rebecca Faulkner	Fr.	R/L	.364	.433	.623	28	24
2B	15	Haley Harris	So.	R/R	.370	.422	.457	34	11
3B	8	Taylor Wright	Sr.	R/R	.293	.369	.347	22	4
SS	10	Kris DeAnda	Sr.	R/R	.329	.407	.395	25	11
RF	2	Karina Romero	So.	R/R	.341	.388	.420	30	9
CF	19	Jenna Curtan	Fr.	L/L	.370	.482	.467	34	11
LF	6	Stephanie Tickemyer	So.	R/R	.291	.375	.327	16	8
DP	25	Erika Campbell	Jr.	L/L	.242	.324	.274	15	9

GAME NOTES
AND THEY'RE OFF
At 23-7 overall the Highlanders are off to their best start in the program's Division I-era.

FOR IT'S 1, 2, 3 STRIKES YOU'RE OUT
Five games into the 2015 season and Chelsea Ponce is already etching her name in the UCR softball record books, recording the most strike outs in a single game in the program's Division I-era. In the Highlanders 3-1 victory over Seattle on Feb. 8, 2015, Ponce threw all seven frames, recording 13 strike outs and passing the previous single-game record of 11 held by Stephanie Marshall. She also ties with three other Highlanders, throwing nine strikeouts in UCR's first game of the season.

Single-Game Strikouts
Strikouts	Player	Game	Date
13	Chelsea Ponce	Seattle	February 8, 2015
11	Stephanie Marshall	@ UC Davis	April 9, 2006
10	Christin Songer	Pacific	April 12, 2008
10	Jordyn McDonald	CSU Bakersfield	March 28, 2012
9	Marissa Alvidrez	Southern Illinois	February, 7, 2009
9	Stephanie Marshall	San Jose State	February 10, 2007
9	Alyssa Razo	vs. Southern Utah	February 16, 2014
9	Chelsea Ponce	Pacific	February 6, 2015

CLIMBING THE CHARTS
Pitching in 22 games so far this season, Chelsea Ponce has already recorded 16 wins with 26 games remaining. In game one of the Highlanders double-header against Weber State, Ponce threw all seven innings, striking out seven, giving up just five hits and earning her fifth shut out of the season. Her 16 victories are good enough to rank her second in the nation for most wins for games through March 15.

UCR Single-Season Wins
Wins	Player	Season
16	Chelsea Ponce	2015
15	Marissa Alvidrez	2010
13	Alyssa Razo	2014
13	Stephanie Marshall	2006
10	Christin Songer	2008
10	Jordyn McDonald	2012

2015 NCAA Division I Victories
Wins	Player	School
17	McKenna Bull	BYU
16	Chelsea Ponce	UCR
15	Alexis Silkwood	Mississippi State
15	Erica Romero	San Diego State
14	Alicia Pille	Kansas
14	Sara Groenewegen	Minnesota
14	Kylee Studioso	Central Arkansas
14	Ally Carda	UCLA
14	Lacey Waldrop	Florida State
13	Mackenzie Audas	UCF

GOING, GOING GONE
In the Highlanders' 10-2 rout against Sand Diego on the final day of the Amy S. Harrison Classic, catcher Natalie Sanchez blasted back-to-back home runs, both sailing over the fence in left-center.

Sanchez is the first Highlander to hit two home-runs in a single game since Kaylie Atkinson smashed two at Cal State Fullerton on April 22, 2012.

EXTRA FRAMES
While competing in the Fresno State Kick-Off Feb. 13-15, the Highlanders were victorious, 7-6, in a four-hour, 13-inning battle against Sacramento State. That is a tie for the second-most innings pitched in a single game during the program's Division I-era. In 2010 UC Riverside topped Pacific 4-3 in the second game of the day's double-header.

The most innings pitched by a Highlander team was in 2002, when UC Riverside went back-and-forth with Cal Poly in a 14 inning dual that ended with the blue and gold on top, 1-0.

SAVED!
Just 20 games into the season freshman Rebecca Faulkner recorded her fourth save in a 2-1 victory over UT-Arlington.

During the Amy S. Harrison Classic, Faulkner took over for Chelsea Ponce against Michigan State, recording her third save in a 9-2 win and breaking the Highlanders' single-season record for most saves.

Single-Season Wins
Saves	Player	Season
4	Rebecca Faulkner	2015
3	Tayler Misfeldt	2015
2	Taylor Alvarez	2013
2	Christin Songer	2005
2	Marissa Alvidrez	2008

CONNECTIONS
The Highlanders currently register the highest team batting average through 30 games in the program's Division I-era. The team is batting .306, the last time a UCR squad batted over three-hundred through this many games was during the 2006 season when the Highlanders were hitting .304.

CATCH ME IF YOU CAN
The Highlanders stole 90 bases during the 2013 season, setting the program Division I record in the process. UCR ended the season ranked 28th in the nation in stolen bases per game, with graduated senior Ariel Shore ranking 58th individually in that category, and Dionne Anderson ranking 77th.

In 2014, Anderson set the program's Division I mark for most stolen bases in a single-season when she stole her 27th base in just the 27th game of the year on March 12 against Fairleigh Dickinson. She also topped Shore as the program's Division I leader in career stolen bases, and finishing her career with 86. The all-time program record for career stolen bases is 107, set by Deanna Dresman from 1988-91. The Highlanders recorded 77 stolen bases in 51 games, with Anderson's 47 leading the team. Anderson also ranked second in the nation in that category, while the team was 35th.

Anderson also broke the Big West Conference single-season record for stolen bases, and is second on the all-time league charts for career stolen bases.

Through 30 games this season the Highlanders are 28-for-35 in stolen base attempts.

BREAKING RECORDS
UCR finished the 2012 season with a 25-28 overall record, setting a program Division I mark for most wins in a season and for best winning percentage. The Highlanders notched 23 wins in 2014, giving them the second-most wins in the program's Division I era. With 25 games left in the season, UCR has already matched 23 wins and has a large chance to at least tie the record at the LMU Invitational.

Best Winning Pct. (DI)
.472	2012
.449	2006
.426	2014

Most Wins (DI)
25 x	2012
23	2015
23	2014
22	2006
22	2010

JUST KEEP SWINGING, JUST KEEP SWINGING
Through 30 games this season the Highlanders have recorded 10 or more hits in 12 games. The last time UCR recorded 12 or more games with double-digit hits was in 2012 when the registered 13 games through the entire season.

TAKEN
The Highlanders won their first Big West series of the 2014 season April 12-13 at Cal State Fullerton by taking two of three games—the first series win since April 27-28, 2013 against Cal Poly.

THE 19TH HOLE
UCR's 23 wins so far heading into Big West Conference play are the most in the team's Division I history.

GRAND SLAM BREAKFAST
Haley Harris belted a walk-off grand slam to give the Highlanders a 6-5 win over Dartmouth on March 20. It was the second grand slam for UCR in 2014, and the first walk-off win for UC Riverside since a 7-5 win on February 24, 2013 against Weber State.

COMEBACK KIDS
In 11 of UC Riverside's 23 wins in 2014, the team rallied back from deficits for the victory

Date	Opponent	Deficit	Final Score
Feb. 14	Bakersfield	2 runs	5-3
Feb. 15	Southern Utah	2 runs	5-2
Feb. 22	Bakersfield	8 runs	15-10
Feb. 27	Sacred Heart	4 runs	6-5
Mar. 6	Belmont	5 runs	6-5
Mar. 9	Utah State	6 runs	8-6
Mar. 12	Fairleigh Dickinson	1 run	6-2
Mar. 12	Fairleigh Dickinson	2 runs	4-2
Mar. 20	Dartmouth	4 runs	6-5
Mar. 21	Canisius	1 run	11-1
Mar. 22	Loyola Marymount	3 runs	9-7

26.2
The Highlanders lost a 10-inning, three hour 29 minute marathon on March 3, 2014 against Loyola Chicago. It is the most innings played for UCR since an 11-inning affair at Cal State Northridge on May 8, 2011.

DOUBLE-DIGIT AFFAIRS
UCR scored 15 runs in a 15-10 win over Bakersfield on February 22, 2014—the most runs scored since a 16-run outburst against Eastern Kentucky on March 7, 2012. The Highlanders also recorded season-highs of 15 hits on two occasions (Feb. 8, 2014 vs. New Mexico and Mar. 22, 2014 at Loyola Marymount), the most since banging out 16 vs Idaho State on March 4, 2011.

SHUT THE FRONT DOOR
The Highlanders shut out Sacramento State, 1-0, on February 16, 2014—the team's first shutout since an 8-0 victory over Cal Poly on April 27, 2013. UCR now has four shutouts on the year. The program Division I record for most shutouts in a season in seven, set in 2008.

Conversely, the Highlanders were shut out nine times last season, including back-to-back games at Long Beach State on April 5, 2014.

FAST FIVE
UC Riverside won five games in a row from March 12-21 for the first time since a six-game win streak from March 10-13, 2013. That six-game streak is the longest in the program's Division I history.

STOP, THIEF!
UCR stole nine bases against Southern Utah on March 11, 2013, setting the program's Division I record for most stolen bases in a single game. Dionne Anderson added her name to the UCR record books as she stole four bases that game—the most in a single game in the program's DI history.

ALL-BIG WEST
UC Riverside placed one player on the Big West All-Conference Team last season, with outfielder Dionne Anderson earning a All-Big West First-Team award. She was the fourth Highlander to earn first-team honor since UCR joined the BIg West. Andersron led UC Riverside in multiple catagories during the 2014 season, including hitting a team-best .386 while slugging .494 with an on-base percentage of .505. She tallied 61 hits while scoring 34 times, and driving in 17. The outfielder also broke the program and Big West single-season records for stolen bases, finishing the year at 47, and is second all-time on the Big West career steals chart. She closed out the season second in the nation in stolen bases.