RIVERSIDE, Calif. - A return to Amy S. Harrison Field was welcomed with a late celebration offensively, but an offensive outburst nonetheless.
UC Riverside split Saturday's doubleheader with Cal Poly with a 6-5 loss and 10-7 win, touting their best offensive performance of the season in the backend of the two-game afternoon.
"I thought we had a really great day out there," head coach Nikki Palmer said, "specifically as a team, just working together and putting everything together when it needed to as a collective unit."
Katherine Montuya recorded her second multi-hit game of the season in game one, marked by a leadoff third-inning single up the middle on a 2-2 pitch. The freshman, who went 3 for 4 with an RBI, extended her hit streak to six dating back to March 14 in game one against Cal Baptist. Montuya advanced into scoring position on the ensuing Highlander at bat with Lauryn Garewal's four-pitch walk.
Allison Troche also recorded a multi-hit game for the Highlanders, her first of the season after singling to shortstop in the fourth inning for her second hit of the afternoon.
Maiah Motta brought the Highlanders within striking distance with a three-run blast in the bottom of the seventh to up her RBI count to a team-high 10.
"Maiah's home run was definitely an energy booster for everyone," Palmer said. "It was a no-doubter right off the bat. It's something that she's been working on pretty hard and she's got a lot of power, so I think this is just the beginning for her."
UCR's bats flipped the script in the early stages of game two and went on cruise control from there as Katie Barbarick picked up her first win of the year.
Marissa Burke started off the scoring with an RBI single up the middle, scoring Katherine Montuya. Montuya, who started the game off with a 3-2 walk, advanced to second on a wild pitch to put the offense in motion and come home on Burke's third RBI of the season. Briza Blanco's two-run RBI single stretched the Highlanders' lead to 3-1 with her sixth and seventh RBIs of the season.
UC Riverside put up three-spots in the third and fifth inning to take a 10-4 lead and cement Saturday's second game as the team's best offensive production of the season thus far.
Blanco, Troche and Leah Brito all went 2 for 3 in the evening game with two, two and three RBIs, respectively. Montuya added the Highlanders' other RBI.
Cal Poly made a push with three runs in the final two innings, but UCR's distribution of wealth offensively was enough to secure the win.
"I was really proud of them for getting really gritty and showing a lot of fight today," Palmer said. "We definitely had some standouts today offensively, but collectively it was a big team win. It was a good win to get out of there with our first win in conference."
UCR and Cal Poly will finish off both teams' second Big West series on Sunday at 12:00 p.m. from Amy S. Harrison Field.
