Games #1 & 2
ART U Urban Knights (0-0) vs. Cal State East Bay Pioneers (0-0)
Wednesday, February 1, 2012 at 3:00 & 5:00 PM
Brisbane, CA – Mission Blue Field
Live Stats
Twitter Updates

Games #3 & 4
ART U Urban Knights (0-0) vs. Sonoma State Seawolves (0-0)
Saturday, February 4, 2012 at 11:00 AM & 1:00 PM
Rohnert Park, CA – Seawolf Field
Live Stats
Live Audio
Twitter Updates

URBAN KNIGHTS READY FOR 2012 SEASON TO BEGIN
The Academy of Art University softball team has been eagerly awaiting this first week of February since the athletes arrived this past fall. The opportunity to show what they can do is finally here and the Urban Knights have a pair of California Collegiate Athletic Association opponents first on the docket. ART U begins with Cal State East Bay in the Feb. 1 home opener and then heads to Sonoma State on Feb. 4.

FIRST PITCH
Starting off the season at Mission Blue Field, the Urban Knights take on Cal State East Bay this Wednesday, Feb. 1 in a 3:00 & 5:00 PM doubleheader. Then, on Saturday, Feb. 4, ART U travels to Rohnert Park and Seawolf Field for an 11:00 AM & 1:00 PM doubleheader against Sonoma State. Live Stats and Twitter updates will be available for these games (see above). Remember to check @UrbanKnightNews on Twitter for score updates and recaps. Also become a fan of the Knights on Facebook by 'Like'-ing the Urban Knights page.

KNIGHT WATCH
The 2012 campaign marks the return of outfielder Ashley Lokey who led the Knights in virtually every offensive category with a .466 batting average (1st in PacWest), 48 runs scored, and 19 stolen bases. Last season, it was outfielder Elyse Cordova and catcher Jayme Stewart who led the way as both returning Urban Knights earned All-PacWest Second Team honors. Cordova also picked up an All-West Region Second Team after leading the team with a .393 batting average and 18 stolen bases. Stewart, a regular in the cleanup spot, hit .345 and paced the Knights with eight home runs as well as 40 runs batted in. Defensively, right-handed pitcher Kimberly Dauer returns for her junior season after appearing in 21 games last year. She picked up seven wins in 12 starts, throwing just under 70.0 innings for ART U.

BEGINNING WITH THE BAY
Coming off a season in which they went 24-27 overall, 14-22 in the CCAA, Cal State East Bay was strong at home but struggled on the road in 2011. The Pioneers finished eighth in the CCAA standings during a campaign highlighted by an early four-game sweep of conference foe Cal State Monterey Bay. Two of those wins went into extra innings and CSUEB demonstrated its ability to perform in the clutch, going 4-2 in extra inning affairs. Tough they lost their top hitter, the Pioneers return catcher Taylor Neumann who hit .311 along with seven home runs and 28 RBIs last season. On the mound, the tandem of righties Kelly Lowe and Talia Ferrari both return after having combined to go 20-18 with 156 strikeouts in 242.2 innings the previous year. Cal State East Bay, who was picked to finish ninth in the 2012 CCAA Preseason Coaches' Poll, opens its season against Academy of Art at Mission Blue Field.

SEEKING THE SEAWOLVES
Sonoma State, a CCAA softball powerhouse picked to finish third in the conference, wrapped up another strong season in 2011 where the Seawovles went 23-13 and captured their second consecutive CCAA Championship after knocking off eventual nation champion UC San Diego. SSU, who will return junior All-American pitcher Samantha Lipperd in 2012, topped UCSD by way of Lipperd's no-hit shutout in a 1-0 victory on May 1, 2011. Sonoma State entered into the NCAA Tournament and put away PacWest members Dixie State and Hawaii Pacific before sustaining two losses to Cal State San Bernardino, one in the sub-regional championship game, to end their season. The Seawolves have gone 81-40 in their last two seasons with head coach Jennifer Bridges at the helm thanks in large part to Lipperd. Offensively, SSU's top returning hitter is catcher Skylynn Myers who hit .314 with 13 doubles and 27 RBIs last season. Like Cal State East Bay, Sonoma State also starts off the 2012 year with its doubleheader against ART U.

2011 SEASON IN REVIEW
When the final out of the 2010-11 year was made last May, the Urban Knights had wrapped up a memorable third season in program history. Academy of Art, who finished fifth in the PacWest in 2010, moved up to fourth overall in 2011 with a 17-11 PacWest record, 29-20 overall. Among the highlights that year was a seven-game win streak which began in the Desert Stinger Tournament, an 8-0 victory over eventual PacWest champions Hawaii Pacific (then ranked No. 7), and a grueling 10-inning come-from-behind victory over Grand Canyon in the season finale.

LOOKING AHEAD
Following the first two doubleheaders of the 2012 season, Academy of Art University embarks upon the challenge of five games in three days with the Montana State-Billings Desert Stinger up next. The tournament features matchups with Simon Fraser (Feb. 10), Lewis (Feb. 10), Sonoma State (Feb. 11), Western Washington (Feb. 11), and finally Western Oregon (Feb. 12).