FULLERTON, Calif.— The UC Riverside Softball Team (32-20, 9-9) will close out the regular season this weekend as the Highlanders test their five-game win streak on the road against the Big West's top seeded Cal State Fullerton Titans (31-22, 16-2). The two teams will compete in game one this Friday night at 7:30 PM and will close out the conference season Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 2:00 PM. Friday's matchup will be aired live on ESPNU.
SCOUTING THE TITANS
CSUF comes into the weekend with a 16-2 record in conference having suffered just its second loss this past weekend to Cal Poly 3-0, but won the series 2-1. The Titans are lead offensively by senior Bryanna Ybarra wo leads the team in conference play batting .431 with 22 hits, three home runs, and 12 RBI. Sophomore Sophie Frost (14-7) will be a likely starter in game one for Cal State Fullerton as the pitcher carries a season ERA of 2.07.
LAST TIME
The Highlanders are coming off a sweep over UC Santa Barbara this past weekend in UCR's final home series. UC Riverside outscored the Gauchos 36-14 and earned a 14-0 run rule shutout in game three, which is the biggest deficit that the Highlanders have won by this year. Prior to this weekend, the most runs the Highlanders had scored over a three-game conference series was 11, coming in a 2-1 series win over Hawaii from Apr. 27-28. UCR easily topped that mark against the Gauchos, surpassing it in Saturday's 13-11 series-opening win alone
#1 IS THE ONE
Following UC Riverside's dominant series win over UC Santa Barbara this past weekend – the Highlanders' first Big West sweep of the season – junior Hannah Rodriguez was named the Big West Softball Field Player of the Week. The UCR shortstop went 7-for-10 in the series with UCSB, recording at least one run, two hits and an RBI in all three games. She had her biggest outing of the weekend in Saturday's 9-3 victory, when she posted a 3-of-4 mark at the plate to go along with three RBI and one stolen base. She capped off her weekend with a 2-of-3 line in Sunday's 14-0 win, adding another three RBI.
Rodriguez becomes the fourth different Highlander to receive Big West Player of the Week honors this season, marking the fifth conference accolade for the team thus far.
Rodriguez also leads the team in conference play this season batting a team best .351 with 20 hits and 11 RBI.
PUTTING THE "C" IN COACH
Head Coach Nikki Palmer earned her 100th career win on April 21st, 2018 in UCR's 3-2 win over UC Davis. She is currently at 105 and has collected 66 wins as a Highlander.
NO-NO
On Saturday April 14th, pitcher Hailey Dolcini notched her first career no-hitter against CSUN in a game where the score was tied until the bottom of the 6th inning. The freshman struck out two batters and only put four runners aboard on balls in her 11th win. After walking the lead off batter in the 4th inning, Dolcini retired the final 12 batters to close out the game. This was the first no-hitter of the season for the Highlanders and their 12th shutout.
BIG WEST BEWARE
UCR's 9-9 record, .284 team batting average and 2.80 ERA all rank 3rd in the Big West Conference with just one weekend of competition remaining. The Highlanders also rank 1st in triples (12), 2nd in RBI (209), and 3rd in OPB (.369), opponent batters average (.234), runs (232) and RBI (177).
On the individual side, senior outfielder Jenna Curtan tops the Big West in batting average (.387) and is 2nd in OBP (.487) and 3rd in hits (63) and runs scored (45). Sophomore Sarah Parten ranks 2nd in the conference in walks (35) and is 3rd in OBP (.487).
Defensively, freshman Hailey Dolcini (1.95) and senior Tayler Misfeldt (2.48) rank 3rd and 8th, respectively, in ERA. Misfeldt's 17 wins this season are good for 3rd and her 140 K's rank 4th, while Dolcini's 13 wins are good for 7th.
THIS IS R' HOUSE
UC Riverside finishes the season 23-10 at home after sweeping UCSB this past weekend. Since Head Coach Nikki Palmer took the helm in 2017, the Highlanders are a combined 47-21 when playing at Amy S. Harrison Field.
RECORD BREAKERS
So far this year the Highlanders have broke several aUCR records:
Pitcher Tayler Misfeldt — All-Time Wins Leader - 54 (previous: 40)
Pitcher Tayler Misfeldt — All-Time Strikeouts Leader - 372 (previous: 312)
Outfielder Jenna Curtan — All-Time Hits Leader - 227 (previous: 199)
Outfielder Jenna Curtan — All-Time Runs Leader - 137 (previous: 114)
Outfielder Jenna Curtan — All-Time Doubles Leader - 37 (previous: 36)
Outfielder Seanna Garewal — Tied for DI Single Season Triples Leader - 5
Outfielder Seanna Garewal — Single Season HBP Leader - 24 (previous: 15)
BIG WEST ATHLETE OF THE WEEK
Earlier this season, the Highlanders had the Big West Athlete of the Week Honors locked down winning the award four consecutive weeks and have now added one more after an impressive weekend from Hannah Rodriguez.
February 27th — Sarah Parten - Field Player of the Week
March 6th — Jenna Curtan - Field Player of the Week
March 13th — Hailey Dolcini - Pitcher of the Week
March 20th — Hailey Dolcini - Pitcher of the Week
May 7th — Hannah Rodriguez - Field Player of the Week
DON'T STOP BELIEVING
UCR has performed exceptionally well even when trailing as the team has registered 10 wins in games where its opponent got on the scoreboard first. This includes four wins when the Highlanders trailed after the 5th inning and three wins despite trailing after the 6th.
CURTAN'S UP
Senior Jenna Curtan has been a strong offensive leader so far in her final season for the Highlanders. Over the team's 52 games this year she ranks 1st on the team in batting average (.387), slugging (.521), OPB (.487), hits (63), doubles (14), runs (45), and total bases (85). Curtan has also displayed some heroics, gathering late inning hits and runs in the wins over George Washington and St. John's.
Curtan was awarded Big West Field Player of the Week on March 5th after an outstanding Highlander Classic. Over the 4-game weekend, Curtan truly stood out as she led the team in batting average (.889), slugging (1.222), OBP (.929), runs scored (7), hits (8), total bases (11), and doubles (3). The Highlander's center fielder went 8-for-9 in the tournament and only recorded one out in her 14 plate appearances. Her last hit of the weekend, an RBI single up the middle to add to UCR's dominant 11-0 win over Saint Mary's, was the senior's 200th career hit, which broke the all-time UCR record. Curtan is also the all-time leader in runs with 133, is tied for the all time doubles record with 36, and is tied for 2nd in triples with nine.
FRESHMEN ON FIRE
Freshman Seanna Garewal and Hailey Dolcini have made a huge impact on the team in their first year of play.
Left fielder Garewal ranks 4th on the team in batting average (.308), 3rd in OBP(.448) and slugging (.466), and 2nd in runs scored (22) (minimum 50 AB). The Highlander left fielder also leads the Big West Conference in HBP (24) and triples (5).
Pitcher Hailey Dolcini (13-8) leads the team with a 1.95 ERA. Opponents have struggled against the freshman batting only .192 and striking out 103 times in her 31 appearances.
SHUTOUT CITY
14 of the team's wins this season have come by way of shutout. In those 14 games, the Highlanders have won a pair of 10-0 games, an 11-0 game, and have scored a combined 77 runs.
HOT STARTS
The Highlanders have faired well when they get on the score board early as they are 22-3 when scoring first and are 13-2 when the team scores in the 1st inning. This success has been in part because of UCR's ability to get lead-off batters aboard 45.2% of the time.
FRESHMAN PHENOM
Freshman pitcher Hailey Dolcini repeated as Big West Pitcher of the Week on March 19th after a dominant performance in the Highlander Invitational. This was the fourth straight week that a Highlander has received a conference honor.
During the tournament the freshman made four appearances, two of which were starts, and scattered eight hits while walking just three and striking out 11. She threw a complete game four-hit shutout against Harvard to start the UCR Tournament walking just one batter and striking out four.
The rookie pitcher had a 46 inning scoreless streak, which is the longest streak on the team this season.
TAYLER ON TOP
Senior Pitcher Tayler Misfeldt (17-10) broke the all-time UCR record for wins on February 18th, 2018 as she picked up her 41st W in a shutout vs. Stanford and since then has extended that record to 51. So far this season she has shutout four teams and struck-out 130 batters to earn a 2.32 ERA.
In the Highlander's 2nd game against Colgate, Misfeldt stepped to the plate for the first time in her career and went 2-for-3 with a triple and 2 RBIs.
RAMELOT'S HOT
Two of UCR's wins have come by way of walk-off from sophomore Emma Ramelot. The shortstop was truly clutch against George Washington hitting a solo homerun to tie the game and then a walk-off double an inning later to cap off a huge comeback and win the game 9-8. Just three days later, Ramelot would step to the plate against St. John's and win the game with an infield single after her team trailed 1-0 going into the bottom of the 7th.
PARTEN THE INTERRUPTION
Sophomore first baseman Sarah Parten took home the Big West Field Player of the Week honors on February 26th after a very impressive weekend at the Amy S. Harrison Classic, where she had a team best .615 batting average, .677 OBP, and an outstanding slugging percentage of .846. She registered two hits in all four games and was a key part of UCR's comeback win over George Washington, where the team trailed 6-0 in the 3rd inning. The sophomore also smacked a 3-run HR against No. 23 Cal.
