Box Score Game 1
Box Score Game 2
Brisbane, CA – The Academy of Art University's softball team hosted Sonoma State in a double header Wednesday evening. The Knights were on a seven game winning streak heading into the games. Game one proved to be a pitching duel, as the Urban Knights struggled to get momentum going. ART U battled hard, but ultimately fell 2-0 to snap their winning streak. The Knights came back strong in game two and were in control for most of the game. After another stellar pitching performance, ART U won the second game with a score of 4-1.
The Urban Knights knew they had their work cut out for them at the start of the day. The women came out flat and were caught off guard by the Sonoma State pitcher. But ART U's pitcher, junior Sierrah Garcia, was also on fire and shutting down the Seawolves' offense.
Both pitchers battled it out for most of game one. And both teams were kept scoreless until late in the game. The Seawolves were able to come up with three bloop hits in the top of the fifth to finally break the 0-0 tie. Sonoma would score twice that inning to take the lead.
The Knights tried to rally back with some runners on base in the final innings, but they were not able to capitalize on those runners, and failed to score any runs of their own in the game. Despite the great pitching performance, without any run support in the game the Knights fell with a final score of 2-0.
“In the first game we pitched well and played great defense,” stated Head Coach Rachel Sherman. “The difference was they got some bloop hits to fall in and our hits weren't strung together.”
Garcia went the distance in the game going all seven innings pitched. She gave up just four hits, two runs, and recorded four strikeouts in the game. Her record is at 5-3 overall, after receiving the loss in the game.
“I thought Sierrah did a good job at working off the plate and up and down. She made it very hard for them to adjust,” added Sherman.
Sophomores Julie Martin and Andrea Hanchey were the two batters to record a hit for ART U in the game. Martin went 1-3, while Hanchey went 1-2 for the team.
For the Seawolves, Brittany Martinez paced the team going 1-2 in the game, as did Kayla Ledford. Jesse Talaugon went 1-3 with one run scored, and Danielle D'Eccliss rounded things out going 1-4 with one RBI. Receiving the win was Samantha Lipperd who went seven innings pitched giving up two hits, and posted 10 strikeouts.
Game two was much different for the Urban Knights. After the short break in between games, the Knights re-grouped and came out with a lot of energy and were ready to play. It showed immediately as the Knights quickly took control of the game and didn't look back.
“In game two we came out with more energy and put the ball on the ground,” said Coach Sherman. “We have great team speed so anytime we force a defense to field and throw us out, we will force errors.”
The Knights scored in the bottom of the second inning when sophomore Jayme Stewart singled to lead of f the inning. She then stole second one batter later. After being advanced to third by sophomore Andrea Hanchey, sophomore Nicole Smith singled up the middle to score Stewart from third. This one run gave ART U an early lead and which was all they needed with their pitching.
The women were able to score twice in the bottom of the fourth, and then added one more run in the bottom of the sixth. With another outstanding pitching performance for the Urban Knights, it looked as if the game was in the books. Sonoma tried to rally back in the top of the seventh and was even able to push across a run to avoid a shut-out, but ART U locked down their defense, and got out of the inning to take the game with a score of 4-1.
Freshman Katie Brooks led the Urban Knights in the circle. She was solid through all seven innings, giving up just four hits, one run (no earned runs), and had four strikeouts. Brooks received the win in the game bringing her record to 4-1.
“Katie threw a great game,” added Coach Rachel Sherman. “She didn't try to do too much, and used her defense. She was solid and our team knew we just needed to get some runs on the board to get her a victory because she wasn't going to give up a big hit.”
Senior Alana Aweau led ART U offensively going 2-3 with two runs scored. Stewart and Hanchey both went 1-3 with one run scored in the game. Smith, and freshmen Lauren Stover and Lauren Clark-Lewis, each contributed one hit in the game to round things out for their team.
Leading Sonoma in the game were Brittany Martinez and Vanessa Currie who both went 1-2, while Kayla Ledford and Rochelle Vanyi went 1-3. Receiving the loss was Julianne Martinez who pitched six innings giving up seven hits, four runs, and had five strikeouts.
After the split, the Academy of Art University's record is at 10-4 overall, while Sonoma State's record is at 16-7 overall. The Urban Knights play next on Friday when they host another non-conference game, this time against Oregon Institute of Technology. Game times are set for 12:00 and 2:00 pm at Mission Blue Field.
