CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. - UC Riverside completed day two of the Mary Nutter Classic on Saturday morning with a 6-1 win over Bethune-Cookman.
The Highlanders belted two doubles and two home runs in the win and are now 2-1 in tournament play for the second time this season.
"I'm really proud of the way our offense came together today," head coach Nikki Palmer said. "Everyone kept sticking with the process we've been working on at the plate. It was nice to see some big barrelled-up balls come through and a lot of good team hitting. Put that together with really nice defense and a great job by Maddie and we were able to get a good team win."
Gigi Araki went yard for the second in as many days, blasting a two-run shot over the fence for a 2-0 UCR lead in the second inning after Leah Brito led off the frame with a double.
Araki has now lifted her multi-RBI total on the year to three games, with two of those coming in Cathedral City.
Maddie Heinlin took the circle for the Highlanders on day two, retiring her first seven batters of the day. Bethune-Cookman loaded the bases in the third, but a fielder's choice back to the plate negated the Wildcats' first run before Kat Montuya tossed a ground ball to third to get UCR out of the jam unscathed.
Heinlin pitched her first collegiate complete game with one run allowed and a pair of strikeouts.
Max Ortega led off the third inning with a stand up double before Brito knocked in her second double in as many at-bats to bring Ortega home. The Highlanders tacked on their fourth run of the game and second of the inning on a throwing error.
Bethune-Cookman eliminated the shutout in the sixth inning, but Haylee Kela threw out the trailing runner at home from center field to negate any further damage.
Lauryn Garewal lifted a ball deep over the right field fence for the Highlanders' second home run of the morning, a two-run shot that gave UCR the comfortable 6-1 lead.
UC Riverside finishes the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic on Sunday with a pair of games against Seattle U (9:00 a.m.) and Loyola Marymount (2:00 p.m.). Both games will be streamed live on FloSoftball.
