Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

AZUSA, Calif. – It was a tale of two games in Academy of Art University Softball's start to Pacific West Conference play against Azusa Pacific on Friday evening. The Urban Knights erupted for eight runs on 16 hits in the opener, winning 8-6 with rather balanced offense and a strong pitching performance from freshman Brenna Mitchell (3-1). Game two turned the way of the Cougars midway through and ended up finishing with the home team on top 12-4 through five innings.

Riding the momentum of its recent pair of victories, the Knights opened game one with a single from senior outfielder Haily MacDonald and she promptly stole second. Two walks then loaded the bases for sophomore shortstop Jessica West who delivered a sacrifice fly to plate the first run of the game. Mitchell struck out the first two batters she faced in the first inning and before Madison Hernandez hit a solo home run in the second to tie it up 1-1.

It was not at a standstill for long, however, because Academy of Art began the third inning with three straight singles from the top of the batting order. That led to a sacrifice fly by freshman outfielder Samantha Klune, a passed ball to score senior infielder Kamyle Glover, and a run-scoring single by West thereafter. Given a 4-1 advantage, Mitchell went back to work, retiring five of the next six batters she faced.

A triple and single by the Cougars in the fourth earned them another run, but the 5-2 ART U lead held through the fifth inning. In the bottom of the sixth, APU scored twice more to effectively cut down the margin to a single run heading into the final frame.

The seventh turned out to be quite eventful as MacDonald and senior infielder Taylor Thurman each offered RBI singles to make it 8-4 before a last gasp by Azusa Pacific came in the form of two unearned runs in the seventh. Mitchell and the Knights' defense got the last ground out and held on to win 8-6.

Game two saw the Cougars strike first with a two-run double by Hernandez in the bottom of the first inning. The lead did not last, however, as senior infielder Jasmine Dickenson and Klune, who had both reached on singles, came around to score on graduate student catcher Niranah Singh's first home run in the ART U red and black. Her three-run blast in the second inning quickly shifted the momentum to Academy of Art 3-2.

After sophomore pitcher Alexa Peters (1-2) exited a second inning jam unscathed, West hit an infield single that was fielded poorly and allowed MacDonald to score. Up 4-2, the Knights' fortunes changed rather quickly when a three-run third gave APU a 5-4 lead. Though two walks and single loaded the bases for ART U in the fourth, Narissa Garcia (5-3) entered in a relief role and notched a pair of huge strikeouts to preserve her team's advantage.

That opportunity dissolved into a four-run fourth for Azusa Pacific then a three-run fifth which triggered the run-rule and ended with the Cougars on top 12-4.

Now 4-2 overall and 1-1 in PacWest play, ART U was led by MacDonald's 5-for-7 day that included four runs scored. Klune and West each went 1-for-3 with two RBIs apiece in the opener and Singh was 1-for-3 with her first home run and three RBIs in the second contest. Mitchell threw her first collegiate complete game in the opener, going 7.0 innings with two earned runs allowed on seven hits and a season-best five strikeouts.

Azusa Pacific is now 7-6 overall and 1-1 in conference as well. APU had a solid opening contest from Hernandez (2-for-2, HR, 2 RBI) then a big game two from Eccles who went 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs. Garcia picked up a relief win in the second game after throwing 1.2 scoreless innings with four strikeouts.

ART U turns right around and plays Azusa Pacific two more times tomorrow, Feb. 21, beginning at 11:00 a.m.