FULLERTON, Calif. – Despite getting doused by intermittent rain throughout the day, the University of California, Riverside (UCR) women's softball team posted a pair of victories as it outlasted the Loyola Marymount University (LMU) Lions, 13-12, in its final action of Sunday, Feb. 9, after opening the day with an 11-5 victory over the Utah State University (USU) Aggies in the annual Titan Classic at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF).

Sunday's Game 1: UC Riverside 11, Utah State 5
 
For the fourth time in as many games, the Highlanders (1-3) led early, this time, 3-0, in the bottom of the second inning. Witt reached first base on a fielding error by the Utah State University (1-4) shortstop. Witt was sacrificed to second base and was there with two outs when sophomore C Jantzen Owen (Covina, Calif. / Charter Oak HS) singled up the middle, plating Witt with the first run of the game. Sophomore CF Haylee Kela (Long Beach, Calif. / Lakewood HS) blasted a 2-1 offering over the left-field fence for a two-run shot, giving UCR a 3-0 lead (all unearned).
 
Undaunted, Utah State answered with three runs in the top of the third.
 
The Highlanders' half of the third inning was particularly interesting. Parten opened the stanza by drawing a walk. Freshman Berkeley Quinn (Yorba Linda, Calif. / Yorba Linda HS) entered the game as a pinch runner for Parten and promptly stole second base. Sorensen also walked, putting Highlanders at first and second bases to bringing Witt to the batter's box. On a 1-1 pitch, Witt hit a screaming shot and Utah State converted it into a 4-3-6 triple play to keep the game tied at 3-3.
 
In the bottom of the fourth, Owen delivered a two-out RBI single to give UCR a short-lived 4-3 lead, only to see the USU Aggies tie the game at 4-4 in the top of the sixth.
 
But then came the Highlanders' half of the sixth inning, and what an inning it was!
 
Ortega doubled home a pair of runs for a 6-4 UCR lead. Parten followed suit with a two-run home run deep down the left-field line, plating Ortega and UCR led, 8-4. After a pair of walks, junior pinch hitter Karissa Arnold (San Diego, Calif. / Temecula Valley HS) jumped on a 3-2 pitch and socked a pinch hit three-run home run to left-center field for an 11-4 UCR lead.
 
In the top of the seventh, Utah State added a run to make the final score 11-5. Olmos pitched the final 1-1/3 innings to secure her (and UCR's) first win of the season.  
 
Kela went three for three for UCR. 

Sunday's Game 2: UC Riverside 13, Loyola Marymount 12
 
Scoring in every inning it batted, UCR overcame a four-run first-inning deficit, fell behind late, but bounced back with an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth and outlasted LMU, 13-12.
 
In the sixth, senior RF Danielle Ortega (Granada Hills, Calif. / Bishop Alemany HS) opened the sixth with a single to left field. Ortega advanced to third and senior DP Sarah Parten (Bellflower, Calif. / Mayfair HS) went to second on the latter's single to center field. Sophomore LF Nadia Witt (Keizer, Ore. / McNary HS) drilled a 0-2 pitch through the left side for a RBI single, driving in Ortega to give UCR a 13-11 lead.
 
In the seventh, senior RHP reliever Jacy Boles (Roseville, Calif. / Woodcreek HS) allowed a pair of singles and a walk before being lifted in favor of senior RHP Melanie Olmos (Riverside, Calif. / Grand Terrace HS). Olmos, who pitched 1-1/3 innings earlier in the day in UCR's 11-5 win over Utah State, surrendered a walk to force in a run before inducing two pop outs and a comebacker to get a force at home plate to end the game and receive her first save of the season. Boles improved to 1-1.
 
During the course of the game, junior C Kennedi Sorensen (Valencia, Calif. / New Mexico State U.) socked a three-run home run in the bottom of the third inning and sophomore CF Haylee Kela (Long Beach, Calif. / Lakewood HS) followed suit on the very next pitch for a solo home run to left field.
 
Senior 1B Sarah Parten (Bellflower, Calif. / Mayfair HS) went three for four with three runs and a double, while senior 2B Emma Ramelot (Riverside, Calif. / Martin Luther King HS) went three for five with a run and a double.
UCR continues its season on Wednesday, Feb.12, when it hosts the San Diego State University Aztecs for its home opener in a non-conference 1:30 p.m. first pitch at Amy S. Harrison Field on the UCR campus.