Game #9 & 10
ART U Urban Knights (2-7) vs. Chico State (7-2)
Friday, February 17, 2012 at 12:00 & 2:00 PM
Chico, CA – Wildcat Softball Field
Live Stats
Twitter Updates

Games #11 & 12
ART U Urban Knights (2-7) vs. Humboldt State Jacks (4-5)
Sunday, February 19, 2012 at 11:00 AM  & 2:00 PM
Brisbane, CA – Mission Blue Field
Live Stats
Twitter Updates

URBAN KNIGHTS TO TANGLE WITH TWO MORE CCAA FOES
Coming out of the Montana State-Billings Desert Stinger with their first two victories of the season, Academy of Art University softball now returns to California for a pair of two-game series against members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) this week. The Urban Knights first play a Chico State team ranked No. 15 overall on Friday before making their way back home for a twinbill against Humboldt State on Sunday.

If you are riding the fan bus to this Sunday's Facutly & Staff Appreciation Day game, make sure you are signed up at Fan Bus Central: http://bit.ly/eC8mrO

FIRST PITCH
In Chico, CA for a matchup against Chico State, the Urban Knights begin their week with a 12:00 PM doubleheader at Wildcat Softball Field. Two days after facing one CCAA opponent, ART U returns to Mission Blue Field for its first home games in more than two weeks. This Sunday, the Knights take on Humboldt State beginning at 11:00 AM. 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
A pair of heavy hitters in senior infielder Genna Allen and junior catcher Andrea Hanchey currently sit atop the ART U power categories. Allen, who went 6-for-15 with three home runs and seven runs batted in during the Desert Stinger, has the most RBIs on the team (9) while Hanchey, who put up a 7-for-15 line with two homers in Vegas, offers a team-best .692 slugging percentage and seven RBIs. Sophomore outfielder Elyse Cordova has risen to the top in batting average (.414) after boasting an eight-game hit streak which took her from the season opener through Western Washington. She has added five runs scored and four stolen bases. Senior outfielder Ashley Lokey has also shined this season with a team-best five multi-hit games to her name already, a .364 batting average, 10 runs scored, and four stolen bases. On the mound, freshman Kristin Valdivia (1-2) picked up the first victory of her career this past week and leads the team with 24.2 innings pitched and a 4.54 ERA.

TAMING THE WILDCATS
After taking four of five games in the Best of the West Tournament, Chico State proceeded to start CCAA play with three wins in a four game series against No. 1 UC San Diego, last year's national champions. The Wildcats' closest game in the Best of the West came against Humboldt State on Feb. 4 when starting pitcher Sam Baker (3-1) pitched a complete game and held the Jacks to just three hits. In the CCAA's preseason poll, Chico was chosen to finish second behind in the conference standings overwhelming favorite UC San Diego who defeated the Wildcats twice last season in the NCAA Championship West Regional. All three Chico State victories over the Tritons in 2012 were pitchers' duels and the Wildcats' Jessica McDermott (3-1) was named CCAA Pitcher of the Week after defeating UCSD twice. To this point, outfielder Sam Quadt is leading the team with a .586 batting average and 12 RBIs.

JUMPING ON THE JACKS
Like Chico State, Humboldt State also won four of five in the Best of the West and went out strong with large victory margins over Western Washington and San Francisco State. The Lumberjacks would then be swept by Cal State Dominguez Hills in a four-game series in which they allowed the Toros to score 11 runs on two separate occasions. For a HSU team that finished last season just over .500 with a 27-24 overall record and only barely edged the Urban Knights in two one-run contests, the Jacks were selected as the fifth-best team in the CCAA by this year's conference coaching staff. Thus far, the team has been led by outfielder Felicia Viveiros and her .519 batting average while infielder Chrissy Stalf adds a .462 batting average along with a team-high 11 RBIs. Defensively, Jennifer Sizemore has thrown the most innings for HSU, but carries a 7.17 ERA and a 2-1 record.

ACADEMY OF ART GOES 2-3 IN DESERT STINGER, LONG BALL BRINGS WINS
Partaking in the Desert Stinger Tournament for the third consecutive year, ART U split the first doubleheaders the two days, winning evening contests against Lewis and Western Washington. After Valdivia and freshman Haily MacDonald had helped pitch the Knights into a 2-2 ballgame in the bottom of the seventh versus Lewis, Allen stepped to the plate with Lokey on third representing the winning run. Instead of simply getting an RBI hit, however, Allen launched the pitch she received over the left field fence to give Academy of Art a 4-2 victory on a two-out, walk-off homer. The next night against Western Washington, the Knights had managed to build a 7-0 lead thanks partly to Allen's pair of home runs and more solid pitching from Valdivia who did not walk a batter in the contest. WWU made a spirited comeback in the sixth, but ART U used a double pay to exit the inning and went on to win 7-5. The Knights also took losses to Simon Fraser, Sonoma State, and Western Oregon in the tournament.

LOOKING AHEAD
One more non-conference doubleheader remains before the Urban Knights open up PacWest play in early March. On Feb. 29, ART U heads to Turlock, CA for a pairing with Cal State Stanislaus at Warrior Softball Field.