RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Back in action after a canceled week of games due to bad weather, Saint Mary's Softball opened up play in the month of March with a doubleheader against UC Riverside. The Highlanders greeted the visitors with a thud coming out of the gate, taking game one of the doubleheader 9-1 before Saint Mary's came back with a counterpunch in game two. UC Riverside had the last blow, however, taking down the Gaels in comeback fashion 9-6 in game two. The Gaels are now 5-12 on the season while UC Riverside improves to 9-13.
 
Game 1: UC Riverside 9, Saint Mary's 1
 
THE HIGH(LANDERS) ROAD
Saint Mary's ran into a buzz saw in game one of the doubleheader in the form of Chrys Hildebrand. The owner of an 18-strikeout performance already this season, she was sharp from the get-go, retiring five of the first six Gaels via the strikeout. Her offense did more than plenty to back her up, scoring runs in three of their four innings at bat. The big innings came in the second and fourth, when the Highlanders scored four runs in each inning. The Gaels tried three pitchers in the game to weather the storm, but all three saw a few rough patches in their outings. Marissa Woolsey got the final seven outs and failed to allow an earned run, but four unearned runs came across on her mark. For Hildebrand, she went five innings without an earned run in the win.
 
THE SINGLE TALLY
The Gaels offense was quiet in game one, but they got on the board against the tough arm of Hildebrand in the top of the fourth inning. Marissa Nishihara led off the inning with a single up the middle, and then she moved to second base on a passed ball. After moving to third base on a bounce out, Indya Smith drove her in with a sacrifice fly to right field to make it a 5-1 game. For Smith, it is her seventh RBI of the season (one shy of the team lead), and it is the sixth time that Nishihara has scored (also one shy of the team lead).
 
Game 2: UC Riverside 9, Saint Mary's 6
 
LIFT OFF!
It took 17 games for Saint Mary's to hit a home run, but they finally got their first of the season, thanks to Indya Smith. Leading off the top of the third inning, Smith saw Alex Casas draw a five-pitch walk in front of her. Smith then wasted very little time, crushing the first pitch she saw to deep right field for her first home run of the season. The two-run shot gave the Gaels a 4-0 lead, doubling up on their advantage and giving them two runs in consecutive innings. For Smith, she finishes the day 2-5 with three runs batted in.
 
TURNING POINT
Saint Mary's held a 4-0 lead after the top of the third inning and seemed poised to turn around the outcome from the first game. Disaster struck in the bottom of the third against Sofia Earle, when she hit a batter with the bases loaded to score a run and then proceeded to give up a grand slam to Marissa Burk, suddenly making it 5-4 Highlanders. UC Riverside would then add three more runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to go up 8-4 and that was enough of a cushion to hang on despite the bumpy ending.
 
COMEBACK ATTEMPT
The Gaels made things interesting late, especially in the top of the sixth inning when they brought the go-ahead run to the plate. Down 9-5, walks to open the inning from Sasa Koria and Angelina Franco got the inning started. A Smith single through the right side loaded up the bases with just one out and the Gaels primed for a big inning. They would wind up getting one run with two outs in the inning on an Elena Barragan base hit, which kept the bases loaded, but ultimately the Gaels could not push across any more runs. In the seventh, Koria was hit by a pitch with two outs, but left stranded on base to end the game.
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels continue in Riverside this weekend with three more games, hosted by California Baptist. Saint Mary's will take on Ivy League schools in Harvard and Columbia to close out the weekend, beginning with Harvard on Saturday at 12:30 pm. These are the final three road games of the season before the Gaels play their home opener on Saturday, March 19 against North Dakota.