California Baptist softball team rallies past UC Riverside, sweeps ‘Crosstown Showdown' series
RIVERSIDE - The bats alone were not getting the job done for the California Baptist University softball team Thursday night.
So, Lancers coach Brandon Telesco decided to force the issue.
An aggressive approach on the bases in the bottom of the sixth inning led to a pair of runs, as the Lancers rallied for a 2-1 victory over UC Riverside in a nonconference game at CBU’s Funk Stadium and completed a “Crosstown Showdown” season sweep.
That sixth-inning rally made sure Miranda De Nava’s four-hitter and season-high, 13-strikeout performance did not go to waste.
“That’s part of our identity,” Telesco said of the aggressive running. “It’s our style. We want to apply pressure on our opponents.”
De Nava and UCR’s Emory Cheng waged a classic pitchers’ duel, as neither team got a runner past second through five innings.
UCR (5-30 overall) finally broke through against De Nava in the top of the sixth inning. Aubrey Marx singled to lead off the frame, and she circled the bases and scored the game’s first run when Kayla Penor smasjed a two-out double into the gap in left-center.
Penor, a freshman catcher from King High, previously struck out twice against De Nava, a sophomore from Riverside Poly High.
“That is what I’m most proud of this freshman group. They’re making good adjustments,” said Highlanders coach Brittney Matta, who started five freshmen Thursday night. “They aren’t settling for the same things happening. And that’s why they’re out there.”
CBU (35-14) had an immediate response. Makayla Medellin tripled of the wall in right-center field with one out in the bottom half of the sixth inning. Ashlee Annett (Roosevelt High) drew a walk and then faked a steal of second base. When Penor’s throw went all the way through to second base, Medellin bolted for the plate and slid head-first into home with the tying run for the Lancers.
Jasmine Goins (Roosevelt High) came in to run for Annett. Malachy Russell-Millen smoked a double down the left-field line, and Telesco waved Goins home. The relay to the plate was in time, but Goins was safe when the ball popped out of Penor’s glove.
This has been a memorable week Russell-Millen, a senior third baseman who homered and knocked in five runs in the Lancers’ 13-6 loss at UCLA on Tuesday night. CBU jumped out to a 4-0 lead in that game, which was tied at 6 going into the sixth inning.
“Little-ole’ CBU doing some damage against a Power 4 school like UCLA. I don’t think that game has really settled in for me yet,” Russell-Millen said. “We always felt we were going to win today. It was just who was going to get that hit? It happened to be me.”
Telesco has not been surprised to see Russell-Millen rise to the occasion in those clutch moments.
“Her leadership has been incredible,” Telesco said. “UCR took the lead, but Malachy came into the dugout telling everyone that we were in a good spot (2-3-4 hitters due up in the bottom of the sixth). She works hard, and everything she’s getting is earned.”
De Nava’s rise ball got away from her a bit in that sixth inning, but she came back strong and struck out the side in the seventh.
“I talked to my pitching coach (Haylei Archer) and asked what was going wrong,” De Nava said. “She just told me to reset and go back to the basics. I tried not to let it faze me. Once my team got us the lead, I knew I was going to go out and finish this game.”
It has been a rough season for UCR, but Matta has been encouraged by her team’s performances against the Lancers this year. CBU won the first meeting of the season 3-0 on April 7.
“CBU is a great mid-major program, and they have the backing and support over here,” Matta said. “So when we play them well, that’s a good thing for us. We are striving to be better in all areas. It’s a young group, and all I can ask from them is to compete.”
Cheng, one of the five freshmen starters, was saddled with a tough-luck loss. She allowed the two runs on six hits in six innings.
CBU’s Bella Wellbaum made her first start of the season. She was 1 for 6 at the plate prior to Thursday evening, but she tallied half of the Lancers’ six hits in the game. Jackie Alday had a pair of hits to lead the way for the Highlanders.
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This story was originally published April 16, 2026 at 11:00 PM.