Northern Colorado’s softball team secured an 8-5 victory over UC Riverside on Sunday morning at Easton Stadium in Los Angeles, concluding their opening weekend with a 2-3 record.
The Bears established an early lead when Ella Gonzales hit a solo home run to center field in the first inning. The momentum continued in the second inning as KK Christie and Hayden Nelson each hit solo home runs, bringing the score to 3-0.
UC Riverside narrowed the gap by scoring twice in the third inning. However, Northern Colorado responded promptly. Krista Francia started the bottom half with a double, and after Gonzales reached base on an error that allowed a run, Katie Walling added a two-run home run to left-center, increasing the lead to 6-2.
Nelson contributed another solo homer in the fourth inning for a 7-2 advantage. Later that inning, Amailee Morales drove in another run with an RBI single, extending UNC’s lead to 8-2.
UC Riverside managed two runs in the sixth and one more in the seventh but could not overcome Northern Colorado’s offense. Ellyse Hydock pitched four innings of relief, allowing three runs while securing the win for UNC. Anna Wilming started for Northern Colorado and pitched three innings with one strikeout.
Northern Colorado recorded ten hits during the game. Home runs came from Gonzales, Walling, Christie, and Nelson—who finished 3-for-3 with two RBIs. Multi-hit games were also recorded by Francia, Christie, and Morales.
Amailee Morales continues to set career marks at Northern Colorado: she is first all-time in doubles (45), home runs (29), and walks (87); second in RBIs (121; program record is 122); eleventh in hits (146); fourth in total bases (282); and sixth in putouts (609). Ella Gonzales ranks eleventh all-time at UNC for RBIs (77), walks (50), home runs (14), and seventh for being hit by pitch (18).
Next up for Northern Colorado is participation at the Grand Canyon Invite at GCU Softball Stadium in Phoenix. They will play South Dakota and Grand Canyon on Friday; Grand Canyon and Harvard on Saturday; then close out against Harvard again on Sunday.
For updates on Northern Colorado Softball, visit UNCBears.com or follow @UNC_BearsSB on X and Instagram or /UNCBearsSB on Facebook.
