Softball Sweeps Final Day of Highlander Classic

Recap, photo courtesy of UC Riverside

RIVERSIDE, Calif.—The Highlanders stretched their win streak out to six in a row Sunday afternoon as the UC Riverside Softball Team picked up a pair of wins over Omaha and San Diego. UCR topped the Mavericks 9-6 before downing the Toreros 3-2 to complete the clean sweep of the Highlander Classic.

"The fact that we won in so many different ways this weekend is really beneficial for us moving forward," Head Coach Nikki Palmer said. "Our young team was able to learn a lot in this tournament and I'm excited to apply that knowledge moving forward."

Junior Jacy Boles was a force through the entire tournament going 4-0 in five appearances with a
1.25 ERA and 14 strikeouts. The pitcher only allowed four runs in 22.1 innings pitched.

"Jacy had a lot of growth this weekend, and I'll say it again, she deserves everything she is getting because of the amount of work she is putting into every element of her game," Palmer said. "I'm really proud of her and its great to see her believe in what she is doing and it is serving her well."

GAME ONE
The Mavericks refused to go down easy in their final appearance of the tournament as the team put up six runs in the first inning of play, but the Highlanders would immediately answer punching back in the bottom.

With one on and two out, junior Melanie Olmos stepped to the plate and crushed a towering home run to left field marking the first of her career. The blast cut the Omaha lead to 6-2.

"Mel is a great leader and an amazing teammate so to see her finding success so consistently makes it that much better," Palmer said. "She puts the work in for that and we expect a lot more of that from her this season."

The Highlander offense got going again just three outs later in the second inning adding in three more runs to inch closer to icing the game. Olmos, junior Danielle Ortega, and senior Brittney Garcia each collected RBIs cutting the lead to 6-5.

In the bottom of the 5th, it would be a pair of Highlander newcomers that give their team the edge as junior Kayla Curtan notched an RBI double to tie the game and freshman Haylee Kela put UCR ahead with a two-out bloop single to score two more and go up 8-6.

The final dagger came an inning later with Olmos striking again on an RBI single to give UC Riverside the 9-6 win. Olmos finished the day going 3-for-3 with four RBI on the day.

GAME TWO
The matchup with the Toreros was a very different story as both teams remained scoreless for the first two and a a half innings. Boles earned the start after tossing 4.1 scoreless innings against Omaha and did not miss a beat pitching a complete game and only allowing two runs, while striking out five. She is now 6-2 on the year.

All of the Highlanders' runs came in a big third inning where they put up three runs on three hits. With two on, junior Britney Garcia stepped to the plate and ripped an RBI single down the left line to score the first run of the day. Olmos was next roping a double over the center-fielder's head to score two more and put 3-0 on the board.

The Toreros answered with two of their own in the next inning, but could not overcome the Highlander defense who shutdown the next three innings to earn the 3-2 win.