Riverside, Calif.— Tuesday afternoon the UC Riverside Softball Team won both games of the UCR Tournament doubleheader as the Highlanders shutout Harvard (7-8) 4-0 and walked-off on Colgate (1-14) 5-4. UCR has now won six straight games improving its record to 21-7 with a 15-3 record when playing at home.

So far this season the Highlanders have been truly successful with multiple run-rule shutouts, four walk-offs, two all-time records broken, and three straight Big West Conference weekly honors.

"We respect every opponent we have and try to stay focused with every inning and every pitch until the last out," Head Coach Nikki Palmer said. "These players are really good at believing in themselves no matter what the situation is and that was apparent today."

HARVARD
The matchup with the Crimson marked another outing for the reigning Big West Pitcher of the Week, Hailey Dolcini (8-2). The freshman continued her complete game shutout streak allowing just four hits and one walk with just 25 batters faced. She has now pitched four straight complete games with zero earned runs.

UCR got on the board in the 2nd taking a 1-0 lead on a ball hit over the wall in left-center by junior Brittney Garcia. The second-baseman has now homered three times in the past five days.

The Highlanders would add three more runs in the bottom of the 4th as sophomore Karter Williams stepped to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded. The right fielder gave her team a 3-0 lead on a hard hit single to right field that scored senior Jenae Lockwood and sophomore Emma Ramelot. Senior Jenna Curtan would put the final run on the board on an RBI single that scored senior Chelsey Holley.

Curtan (2-for-3/ 1 RBI) and Williams (1-for-2/ 2 RBIs) were an offensive force in the game with their very timely hitting.

This 4-0 victory was the 9th shutout of the year for UCR.

COLGATE
In the 2nd part of the doubleheader the Highlanders faced Colgate, who they defeated 6-0 just two days prior, but the second matchup between these two teams would come down to the final at-bat.

Senior Tayler Misfeldt (12-3) would start from the circle for UCR and would grab the victory pitching a complete game. Misfeldt's success as a pitcher for the Highlanders is displayed often, but Tuesday afternoon she would step to the plate for the first time in her career.

"Tayler has been working really hard in practice offensively and it was only a matter of time and situation to put her in the lineup," Palmer said. "We had a gut feeling today and we went with it, and it paid off."

In her first NCAA plate appearance, Misfeldt did not disappoint as she gave her team a 1-0 lead with an RBI single to right-center that drove in sophomore Sarah Parten.

The Raiders would do all of their scoring in the 3rd and 4th innings as they brought in four runs to the take the lead.

Down 4-1, Misfeldt would come up for her 2nd ever plate appearance with two outs and notch her second RBI of the day on a deep triple to the opposite side of the field cutting the Raider lead 4-2. Karter Williams would follow with a stand-up triple of her own that brought in Misfeldt and put UCR in position to tie the game late.

The game would go scoreless till the bottom of the 7th where the Highlanders had three more chances to tie or win it all. Williams and Curtan would lead off with a pair of singles to put runners on, but Colgate would get two fly-outs from the next two batters. With Williams on 3rd, Curtan on 1st, and two outs Brittney Garcia would reach 1st on a throwing error that tied the ball game at 4-4. The Highlanders now had Curtan on 3rd base, just 60 feet from victory and the team would pull through with a Walk-Off error on a ball put into play by Sarah Parten that scored Curtan.

Pitcher Tayler Misfeldt got it done on both sides for UCR going 2-for-3 with 2 RBIs and a run scored, while also pitching a complete game in her win over the Raiders.

The Highlanders are back in action this weekend as the team will host its final home tournament, the Highlander Invitational. UCR's first matchup is this Friday at 2:00 PM with Purdue.