Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Brisbane, CA – ART U Softball closed out its 2014 season with a pair of rain-rescheduled games that went the way of Dominican on Monday out at Mission Blue Field. The opener was tied 1-1 late before back-to-back four-run rallies by the Penguins finished the game 9-1 after six innings. The finale was a 3-1 battle with the visitors ahead and, though it was 5-2 with two outs in the seventh, Academy of Art had a chance to walk off with the bases loaded, but just came a few feet short of the grand slam. Jasmine Dickenson stayed hot, extending her season-ending hitting streak to nine games with a three-hit day that included another home run.

"We have done a great job getting on base this year," co-head coach Randy Ward said. "We improved our on-base percentage as a team from last season, but getting that clutch hit just did not happen today. We hit the ball hard right at the left fielder twice with bases loaded that killed our chances. I cannot fault our effort of getting on base, but I hope moving forward our returners can use this year as a learning experience to not let opportunities slip away like this season."

A walk and an error set up Dominican for its first run of game one on a Katelyn Harden RBI single in the opening inning. Although the Urban Knights would get a runner aboard in each of the six innings against starter Ashlyn Moriarity (16-11), they were unable to break through until the fourth. By then, Carlee Emerson (3-15) had managed to preserve the 1-0 score with only one hit allowed in the second through fourth innings.

Academy of Art used a Dickenson walk then singles by Jessica West and Lauren Stover to load the bases in the bottom of the fourth, setting up Elise Oldham. The sophomore put a ball in play on the left side and while Dominican attempted to get Dickenson at home plate, she beat the throw and tied up game one.

The Penguins were the first to score in the fifth as they plated four runs on four hits to take a 5-1 lead. Then, after aggressive base running did not bear fruit for the Knights in the bottom half, Dominican added four more runs (two unearned due to an error) for what would be a 9-1 victory.


Game two began with another 1-0 lead for the visitors after Leslie Mesa's RBI single and, in the bottom of the first, ART U loaded the bases on a walk and two singles yet could not score. That frustrating trend continued in the second when, after starter Jill Johnson (11-12) stranded a runner at third after facing the situation with no outs, that breakthrough hit with the bases loaded was elusive once again.

Dominican scored twice more in the third, but the Knights would keep it close with a run in the bottom half on a solo homer by Dickenson. She smacked a 0-1 pitch beyond the left field fence, effectively tying Taylor Thurman for the team lead and making it four long balls in her final eight games of the year.

The string of "almost" opportunities continued in the fourth when singles by Haily MacDonald and Elyse Cordova combined with Dickenson being hit, but Academy of Art remained stuck, behind 3-1. Following a quiet fifth inning, the Penguins added two more in the sixth then themselves left the bases loaded in the seventh after Emerson, who returned as a reliever in game two, got two consecutive forceouts at home and a grounder to first.

In the bottom of the seventh, a one-out Hallie Curtis walk was backed up by a single from Alexa Peters in her first at-bat of the year and a single by MacDonald. Cordova worked a walk with two down to get the Knights' second run of the game and Thurman stepped in with a chance to tie or walk off, but ended up flying out to left as Dominican prevailed 5-2.

Academy of Art closes its 2014 campaign with a 16-34 overall record (13-19 PacWest) while both seniors, Stover and Cordova, each had hits in both games. In the second contest, Stover was 3-for-4 with her program record 42nd career double and Cordova added a pair of multi-hit games, going 4-for-7 with her ART U record 57th career stolen base. The junior class was also productive as Dickenson had her eighth and ninth consecutive games with a hit, adding the solo homer in the finale. MacDonald made it a four-game hitting streak to end the year with her 3-for-5 performance in game two while Glover finished her season as a junior hitting exactly .400 after two 1-for-3 starts.

"We have four juniors that have stepped up this season and will be the core next year," Coach Ward said. "Haily had a typical year by ending this season on a hot streak and getting on base multiple times per game her last 10. Taylor, Kamyle, and Jasmine all improved their offensive numbers this year and these four will make up another great offensive force next year."

With 13 returners slated for the upcoming season, the Urban Knights will have much to look forward to in 2015.