LEESBURG, Fla. - UC Riverside opened The Spring Games on Thursday evening at Sleepy Hollow in Leesburg, Florida with a 7-5 win over Kansas.  

HOW IT HAPPENED 

• UC Riverside tied things at one run apiece with Eta Lauti's sacrifice fly to left in the second inning, scoring Allyssa Alano after the Saint Mary's transfer pinch ran for Bella Scozzola.  
• Nadia Witt put UCR ahead on the Highlanders' next at-bat with a two-run double down the left field line.  
• Samiya Jones broke a 5-5 deadlock in the seventh with a two-run RBI single into right field, scoring Scozzola and Kamryn Davis.  
• Witt, Jones and Rebeca Cabezas all recorded two RBIs each in the win while Gigi Araki plated two runs.  
• Maddie Heinlin recorded her first win of the season in her third appearance, registering a pair of strikeouts while Briza Blanco picked up her second save on the year and second in as many appearances.  

COACHES' CORNER 

• "I'm really proud of the team tonight with everyone working together to get the win. Our defense came up big and made some both routine and big plays to help secure it and Samiya (Jones) stepped up in a big way when we needed her most, which is not easy to do. I could not be more proud of her. We'll be ready for tomorrow." - head coach Nikki Palmer 

HIGHLANDER HIGHLIGHTS 

• Cabezas extended her hit streak to four games with an RBI single in the third inning.  
• Jones recorded the second multi-RBI game of her Highlander career. UCR is now 2-1 dating back to last season when Jones drives in a run.  

UP NEXT 

• UC Riverside will continue play at The Spring Games with two games on tap for Friday, facing Southern Illinois at 9:00 a.m. and Ohio State at 12:00 p.m. Both games are PST and will be streamed live on FloSoftball.