SANTA BARBARA, Calif. (May 4, 2023) – The UC Santa Barbara softball team (25-27, 12-9 Big West) hosts UC Riverside (20-27, 6-15 Big West) on Friday, May 5, and Saturday, May 6 in their final home series of the season. The two teams will play a doubleheader starting at noon on Friday with a single game at 1 p.m. on Saturday.
The Gauchos enter the weekend after taking two of three games against UC Davis. After dropping game one UC Santa Barbara won the next two games outhitting the Aggies 27-18 and outscoring them 17-8. UC Riverside comes into the weekend off a series win over UC San Diego. The Highlanders, like the Gauchos, dropped game one before winning the next two for a series victory.
Last weekend the offense was powered by Madelyn McNally, Sam Denehy, and Bella Fuentes. McNally and Denehy each hit .667 against the Aggies combining for 14 hits between the two of them. McNally recorded a double, home run and drove in four runs on the weekend. Denehy got on base at a clip of .750 leading the team in the category over the weekend. Freshman Bella Fuentes went 3-for-6 (.500) in the series with a home run and two runs batted in.
In the circle, Malaya Johnson and Camryn Snyder combined for 19.1 innings pitched 11 strikeouts, and allowed just five earned runs. Johnson picked up her fifth win of the season while Snyder leads the team with 12.
The UC Riverside offense is led by graduate student, Nadia Witt. Witt has started 46 of the 47 games for the Highlanders and is currently hitting .367 on the season with nine doubles, two triples, and one home run. Witt is the only qualified UCR hitter that is batting over .300 on the season.
Maddie Heinlin leads the Highlander pitching staff with a 1.99 earned run average over 126.2 innings pitched. The sophomore has struck out 112 batters with opponents batting .219 against her. Brooke Perez sits behind Heinlin in all categories with a 2.55 ERA, 85 innings pitched, and 41 strikeouts.
All three games of the series will be streamed through ESPN+ and live stats will be available through ucsbgauchos.com.
