Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 FULLERTON, Calif. – Lifting the lid on its 2020 season, the University of California, Riverside (UCR) women's softball team dropped a pair of games in the annual Titan Classic at California State University, Fullerton (CSUF) on Friday, Feb. 7.
 
Game 1 : University of Pacific 7, UC Riverside 1
 
UCR (0-1) struck first when Sorensen deposited the first pitch she saw of the season over the left-field fence in the bottom of the second inning for a quick 1-0 lead for UCR starting sophomore RHP Chrys Hildebrand (Yorba Linda, Calif. / Esperanza HS). Hildebrand was lifted with two outs in the top of the fourth inning in favor of senior RHP Jacy Boles (Roseville, Calif. / Woodcreek HS).
 
Boles (0-1) was sailing along until the top of the seventh inning when the University of Pacific Tigers (1-0) parlayed four infield errors, four hits, two wild pitches and a passed ball for a 7-run eruption (6 unearned runs) to come- from behind in a 7-1 win.
 
Game 2: Middle Tennessee 7, UC Riverside 5
 
Again, the Highlanders broke out on top, 1-0, with an early run, this one in the bottom of the first inning, courtesy of a RBI single by senior 1B Melanie Olmos (Riverside, Calif. / Grand Terrace HS) whose hit plated senior 3B Emma Ramelot (Riverside, Calif. / Martin Luther King HS) who opened the stanza by getting hit by the pitch.
 
UCR broke a 1-1 tie with a three-run third inning to take a 4-1 lead. Three hits and three Middle Tennessee errors aided the Highlanders' cause.
 
Undaunted, the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders (1-1) broke out on top in the top of the fourth with a five-run outburst for a 6-4 lead. Each team scored in the fifth frame for the 7-5 final.
 
Senior RHP Melanie Olmos (Riverside, Calif. / Grand Terrace HS), who inherited a 4-1 lead as she entered the circle in the top of the fourth frame lasted only 1.2 innings, and allowed five runs (three earned) on four hits as her record fell to 0-2.
 
Junior C Kennedi Sorensen (Valencia, Calif. / New Mexico State U.) socked her second home run of the season (and day!) en route to a two-for-three game with two runs scored. Senior RF Danielle Ortega (Granada Hills, Calif. / Bishop Alemany HS), who led the Highlanders last season in batting at .371, also had two hits.
 
"I like that we have a lot of fight and we put the pressure on," said fourth-year UCR head coach Nikki Palmer. "Kennedi (Sorensen) brings a lot of power.
 
"This was a good team experience for them. We have youth and some learning to do." 
 
***
 
UCR continues tournament play on Saturday, Feb. 8, when it battles the San Jose State University Spartans at 10:30 p.m. (on CSUF's field no. 2). The Highlanders conclude tournament play on Sunday, Feb. 9, when they take on the Utah State University Aggies at 9:30 a.m. before meeting the Loyola Marymount University Lions at 12 p.m.