Box Score Game 1
Box Score Game 2
Las Vegas, NV – The Academy of Art University's softball team traveled to Las Vegas to compete in the Desert Stinger Tournament this weekend. The women began the tournament with a double header on Friday evening. The Knights faced St. Martin's University, followed by a game against Western Washington on day one of the three day tournament. ART U's offense came alive in both games, but despite valiant efforts, the women came up just short against both teams. The Urban Knights would end up losing to St. Martin's with a final score of 9-10, before dropping game two to WWU with a score of 6-2.
“We showed a good fight, had energy throughout, made very good adjustments, and were on the offensive threat all day,” commented Head Coach Rachel Sherman.
Game one ended up being a slug fest, as both the Knights and Saints put up big numbers during the game. The Urban Knights started by getting things going in the top of the first inning. Junior Genna Allen hit a towering home run over the left field fence to give her team the early lead. But in the bottom of the inning, the Saints answered right back with a homerun of their own. Both offenses were shut down for the next couple of innings, before the Knights busted things open in the top of the fourth.
The women rallied six runs that inning, three of which coming off a huge home run by sophomore Jayme Stewart. At the end of the half inning, ART U had a 7-1 lead. However, the Saints would again come back to keep the Knights from running away with the game. SMU actually scored eight runs of their own in the bottom of the fourth to take a one run lead, making the score 8-7.
ART U would not let up easily, however. In the top of the sixth, the Urban Knights were able to push across two more runs to re-take the lead. But again, the Saints came back in the bottom of the inning, and this time it was enough to put the Knights away. After SMU scored twice in the bottom of the sixth, ART U was unable to score any more runs in the seventh, and ultimately fell with a final score of 10-9.
“We made some amazing plays on defense, but our offense outshined the routine,” added Sherman. “We didn't lose, we just ran out of time.”
Although the Knights came up short, they still played very well. Offense was huge in the game, as eight of the Knights' nine batters recorded a hit in the game. Stewart has a great game at the plate going 3-4 with a home run, a double, two runs, three runs batted in, and a stolen base. Allen stood out going 2-4 with a home run, two runs scored, and two runs batted in, and freshman Lauren Stover also did well going 2-3 with one run scored in the game.
Sophomore Kim Dauer started in the circle for ART U and went 3.2 innings pitched, giving up seven hits, and posted one strikeout. She received the loss in the game.
For the Saints, Madison Davis did well for her team going 2-4 with two home runs, two runs scored, and three runs batted in. Morgan Klemm did well going 2-4 with two runs scored, and Kelsie McGladrey went 2-2 with a homerun, two runs scored, and three RBI.
The Knights scored nine runs on 12 hits, and recorded two errors in the game.
Game two, against Western Washington, proved to be a very different story for the Academy of Art University. The game proved to be a pitching duel, as both teams were evenly during the game. Both team's pitchers were shutting their opponents down offensively from the beginning. The first hit of the game didn't come until ART U's own sophomore Julie Martin posted a single in the bottom of the third. That was the spark her team needed.
The following inning, the Knights finally broke the pitching duel, when they scored two runs in the bottom of the fourth. Senior Alana Aweau hit a line drive that got out of the park in a hurry for a two run homerun; scoring freshman Lauren Stover from second. The Knights then had a 2-0 lead heading into the fifth.
Just like in the Urban Knights' previous game, the Vikings were able to rally back the next inning. WWU pushed across three runs of their own to take the lead from the Knights. The Vikings then added three more runs in the top of the seventh to take a four run lead over the Academy of Art. Unfortunately, the Knights weren't able to muster any more runs after their breakthrough in the fourth, and ultimately fell 6-2.
“We learned [from the games] that no matter how down we are, we're not down; we can come back, and we have faith in our offense because we will score runs,” said Coach Sherman.
Again the Knights played well but just couldn't hold on for the win. Aweau had a good game going 1-2 with a homerun, one run scored, and two runs batted in. Freshman Elyse Cordova did well going 1-1, and both Martin and sophomore Andrea Hanchey went 1-3 in the game.
Junior ace, Sierrah Garcia started on the mound for the Urban Knights. She went 6.1 innings pitched giving up five hits, three earned runs, and posted four strikeouts on the night. Garcia also records the loss for the game, bringing her record to 2-1.
For the Vikings, Jessica Carey went 1-3 with two runs scored, Caitlin Dotlich went 1-3 with a homerun, one run, and two RBIs, and Michelle Wrigley rounded things out also going 1-3.
The Knights scored two runs on four hits, and recorded three errors in the game.
After the day, the Academy of Art University's record falls to 2-3 overall. The women continue the Desert Stinger Tournament on Saturday, February 12th. They are set to take on Northwest Nazarene at 12:00 pm, followed by a match-up against Lewis University at 5:00 pm. Both games will take place at Majestic Park.
