Softball Heads North For Weekend Series At UC Davis

Highlanders In Week 11
at UC Davis
Saturday, April 23-Double Header Game One-1 pm Game Two-3 pm
Sunday, April 24-Series Finale 1 pm
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Riverside—The UC Riverside Softball Team will travel up the coast to face the UC Davis Aggies in a weekend series April 23-24.

UCR (28-14-1) avoided being swept against Hawai'i thanks to a four-hit complete game shutout from freshman Anessa Cepeda in a 2-0 victory in Saturday's series finale.

Maddie Richard's .500 batting average is second in the country and her .77 stolen bases per contest are 11th in the land. Her 42 runs scored and .555 on-base percentage are first in the conference. She had a five-game streak of three hit games snapped over the weekend versus the Rainbow Wahine.

Entering the week, the Highlander's .971 fielding percentage ranks 24th in the nation, tops in the Big West conference. Their 1.72 stolen bases per game is 34th nationally. Their conference leading batting average of .314 ranks 42nd in the nation and the nine triples by the team are the second most in the Big West.

Jenna Curtan's 34 RBI's are third in the Big West. She has stolen 23 bases this season, good enough for third in the conference. Haley Harris leads the NCAA with 20 sacrifice hits and her 20 walks are four in the Big West.

Natalie Sanchez had her second two-hit game of conference play in the series finale win over Hawai'i. Tayler Misfeldt's 18 victories and 16 complete games lead the conference.

UC Davis (14-22, 3-6) was swept at Cal State Fullerton in their first road conference series last week. They lost 6-1 in the opener Friday and in the double take on Saturday they fell, 5-1 and 9-2.

Briana Warner leads the Aggie offensive attack with 35 hits, 25 runs scored, and her 34 stolen bases leads the conference and ranks sixth nationally. Kelly Zboralske's 18 RBI's and eight doubles are team highs, while Alexis Carney's .321 average is tops on the squad.

In the circle, they have relied on Leah Munden (8-7, 3.81) and Andrea Reynolds (5-11, 4.31), who each have completed just three games this season.

The Highlanders swept the Aggies in last season's series. They took the opening game of the series, 1-0, in a 13-inning affair, and topped the Aggies in the final two games, 5-2 and 5-3. UCR trails in the overall series 12-22. (view results)

GAME NOTES
AND THEY'RE OFF
The 2015 version of UC Riverside Softball went 39-17 giving the Highlanders their most victories since joining the Big West Conference prior to the 2002 season. They also went 11-10 in conference play, breaking the program record for Big West wins in a season. This season, the Highlanders were 23-9-1 through 33 games. Last year's squad was 26-7 through 33 games.

MARK ROBERTS WOULD BE PROUD
The Highlanders won 11 straight games from February 26 through March 11 of this year which is the longest winning streak for the program since the team made the move to the Big West Conference in 2002.

RPI
In 2015, the Highlanders rose to as high as 63rd and finished the season ranked 70th out of 295 teams in RPI—the best showing for the program since the NCAA began keeping track of RPI for Division I softball teams. In this week's rankings UCR's RPI is 114.

SAVED!
Rebecca Faulkner led the nation in saves a year ago with 8, and this year her teammate Kaylynn Pierce is tied for 21st with 3. That ties Pierce for the second most saves for a member of the Highlanders since the team joined the Big West Conference.

Single-Season Saves Since 2002
Saves	Player	Year
8	Rebecca Faulkner	2015
3	Tayler Misfeldt	2015
3	Kaylynn Pierce	2016

Career Saves
Saves	Player	Years
8	Rebecca Faulkner	2015
4	Ashley Henderson	1991-92
3	Tayler Misfeldt	2015
3	Kaylynn Pierce	2016
3	Alicia Zinner	1991-92
3	Laura Fay	1987-90

CONNECTIONS
Last year's version of the Highlanders compiled a .284 batting average which is the highest average for the program since joining the Big West Conference. This season, UC Riverside is hitting .314, which is the 42nd highest average in the nation heading into the week.

DOUBLE DIGITS
The Highlanders haven't had two pitchers record double digit wins in the same season since joining the Big West Conference in 2002, but they might pull off that feat this season. Tayler Misfeldt is 18-8 on the year, and Kaylynn Pierce is 9-4.

CHASING TED WILLIAMS
Only eight times in the history of the UC Riverside Softball program have members of the Highlanders hit .400 or above, and that has occurred only two times since UC Riverside made the move to the Big West Conference in 2002. This season, Maddie Richard is hitting .504 through 40 games, and is looking to become the second member of the Highlander's .500 club.

Single-Season Batting Average (.400 or Above)
Avg	Player	Year
.544	Deanna Dresman	1990
.500	Maddie Richard	2016
.465	Mayra Juarez	1997
.445	Deanna Dresman	1991
.435	Melissa Sanchez	2006
.424	Marissa Alvidrez	2008
.422	Mayra Juarez	1998
.413	Cindy Taylor	1990
.406	Missy Laramie	1991

ACE OF (GETTING ON) BASE
Maddie Richard also boasts an on base percentage of .559 on the season, and could become the sixth member of the Highlanders to reach on more than 50 percent of her plate appearances in a single year.

Single-Season On Base Percentage (.500 or Above)
Avg	Player	Year
.583	Deanna Dresman	1990
.577	Melissa Sanchez	2006
.555	Maddie Richard	2016
.546	Mayra Juarez	1998
.528	Melissa Sanchez	2004
.517	Marissa Alvidrez	2008
.505	Dionne Anderson	2014

I'VE GOT THE POWER
Maddie Richard has a .558 slugging percentage and Jenna Curtan .553 through 43 games, and could become the seventh and eighth members of the Highlanders to slug .600 or better in a single season.

Single-Season Slugging Percentage (.600 or Above)
Avg	Player	Year
.774	Melissa Sanchez	2006
.722	Marissa Alvidrez	2008
.699	Barrie Greer	1985
.696	Mayra Juarez	1998
.682	Kayla White	2013
.676	Mayra Juarez	1997
.602	Angela Melander	1983
.558	Maddie Richard	2016
.553	Jenna Curtan	2016