Sunday's doubleheader proved too much for the University of California, Riverside (UCR) Highlanders as they fell to the Loyola Marymount University (LMU) Lions, 5-3 in game one and 13-2 in game two to complete the three-game series.
Head Coach
Nikki Palmer said, "I was super proud of the girls in game one today. They came out after yesterday and showed a lot of resiliency and fight. They made some key adjustments and put up a really great game against LMU." She continued, "Ultimately, we came up short and ran out of time on offense, but I thought we put up a great fight and played well as a team, especially defensively that game."
Both teams found hits early in the first game, but strong defense and starting pitchers on both teams came up big to keep the game scoreless through the first four innings. By the bottom of the fifth inning, the Highlanders broke through and got their first runs of the 2021 season when catcher
Kennedi Sorensen drove in two runs with a stand-up triple to put the Highlanders in the lead, 2-0. Freshman
Katherine Montuya sent Sorensen home for the third run of the game with a sacrifice fly and UC Riverside took a 3-0 advantage.
The Highlanders found trouble in the start the fifth inning, when the Lions loaded the bases with a trio of walks.
Briza Blanco relieved Barbarick on the mound, but she struggled, hitting the first two batters she faced with a pitch to advance the Lion's first two runs and load the bases with no outs. LMU sealed their 5-3 victory, driving in three more runs before the Highlanders could get out of the inning.
In game two, a punishing Lions offense mounted an eleven-run lead in the first three innings resulting in a decisive 13-2 win. Newcomer
Maiah Motta fought to get things started for the Highlanders, hitting a two-run home run, the first of the season for UC Riverside, but it wouldn't be enough to overcome the deficit.
Coach Palmer is looking ahead, commenting "I think we learned a lot about ourselves and got a lot of great feedback that we can take into the week as we prepare for our next opponent. Overall, this weekend I thought we saw a lot of things that will lead to a strong season and bright future for our program."
Next up for the Highlanders is a three-game series against Dixie State starting with a doubleheader on March 5 at 12 PM at the Amy S Harrison Field.
