KNIGHT WATCH
As a team, Academy of Art University has hit above .300 for virtually the entire season and they currently stand at third with a collective .307 mark. Seven Urban Knights are batting over .300 (all among the top 50 in the conference) and, for a team that ranks third in the conference in doubles (47), all seven of those individuals have at least three doubles apiece. Despite not playing in the past five games, senior outfielder Haily MacDonald remains the team's batting average leader (.427, fifth in PacWest). She has 12 multi-hit games in 2015 and, with a team-high 25 runs scored this season, MacDonald now has touched home plate 110 times in her career putting her 26 behind Elyse Cordova's all-time record (136). MacDonald also leads the team with a .528 slugging percentage and ranks 44th in the country as toughest to strikeout.

Senior infielder Taylor Thurman comes up next with a .367 batting average and a team-best 23 runs driven in (10th in PacWest). She needs seven more doubles to tie Lauren Stover's career record (42). Junior catcher Elise Oldham has continued to rake, now hitting .326 with five home runs to lead the team along with 19 driven in and a four-game hitting streak. The quartet of sophomore infielder Jessica West (.314), graduate student catcher Nirana Singh (.313), senior infielder Kaymle Glover (.311), and freshman outfielder Samantha Klune (.311) round out the seven ART U hitters batting above .300 with senior infielder Jasmine Dickenson (.297) not far off.

Combining to throw eight hitless innings against Chaminade, freshman Brenna Mitchell (10-8) and Alexa Peters (4-7) have been strong in the pitcher's circle. Mitchell sports a 3.74 ERA (11th in PacWest) and has the fourth-most strikeouts in the conference (65). She is already fourth on the ART U career list in terms of both complete games (11) and strikeouts while ranking 46th in the country in total victories. Peters comes off a one-hit shutout (the first of her career) versus the Silverswords.

NOTES BY NORTHWEST
Coming into Friday's matchup with Academy of Art, Northwest Nazarene sports a 4-23 overall record after losing streaks of five and 11 games came for the Crusaders this year. NNU defeated Notre Dame de Namur 10-1 three games into 2015 and, in late March, edged Western Washington 7-6 and Willamette 9-3. However, series sweeps by Western Oregon and Central Washington made up the bulk of the losses. The team is led by Whitney Carlton's .373 batting average and 13 RBIs. In the circle, Ashley Pesek (4-15) comes in having thrown 115.1 of the team's 169.0 innings pitched while offering a 4.37 ERA and 89 strikeouts. Academy of Art has won both of the team's historical meetings with the most recent a 6-5 victory in last year's Tournament of Champions.

RETURN TO THE WILD
Of the GNAC teams they'll face in the Tournament of Champions, Central Washington is one the Urban Knights are most familiar with after sweeping the Wildcats earlier this year on Feb. 23. The ART U bats came alive after some early CWU miscues in those games, and shortly thereafter, Central Washington cleaned up its defense, winning six of its next eight (the aforementioned series sweep of NNU) with just six errors total in that span. CWU comes in having won just two of its last six with 14 errors during that stretch. The team is led by Taylor Ferleman (.447 BA) though she has not played since Mar. 7 and Austin Wilkerson (.373 BA, 15 RBIs). Kiana Wood (5-2) has been the Wildcats' top pitcher with a 2.78 ERA and 44 strikeouts in 55.1 innings. The Urban Knights hold a 4-2 advantage on Central Washington historically.

A PAIR LEADING THE PACK
After starting the year 3-11, Western Oregon rattled off six straight victories including sweeps of Northwest Nazarene and Northwest Christian.  The Wolves then split with Simon Fraser and SF State and were swept by Central Washington. The offensive tag team of Kelsie Gardner and Amanda Evola share .427 batting averages to lead the entire GNAC. The one and three hitters in WOU's order have combined for 43 runs scored and 38 RBIs. It is Alyson Boytz (4-7) who has handled the majority of the pitching work thus far, throwing 78.2 innings with a 3.03 ERA. Academy of Art and Western Oregon have met just once prior with the Wolves winning 2-1 back in the 2012 Montana State-Billings Desert Stinger.

DOWN GOES FRASER (TO TURLOCK)
At 11-13 overall this season, Simon Fraser has played its opponents rather evenly in 2015. The Clan fell to Hawaii Pacific, swept Chaminade and BYU-Hawaii then split with British Colombia, Concordia (Ore.), and Western Oregon before taking one of four from MSU-Billings. SFU ranks second in the GNAC in stolen bases and Taylor Gillis (.321 BA, 9 SB) is a big reason why. The team's top hitter thus far is Racahel Proctor (.349 BA, 5 HR, 19 RBIs) while Kelsie Hawkins (6-4) owns a 2.55 ERA and 44 strikeouts over 55.0 innings pitched in the circle. That same 2012 MSU-Billings Desert Stinger opened with the only meeting to date between Academy of Art and Simon Fraser; a 10-5 victory for The Clan.

BRINGING THE STING
The Yellow Jackets faced five nationally ranked teams in their first nine games and defeated two of them (No. 19 Humboldt State and No. 14 Augustiana). Since the start of conference play, MSU-Billings split with Western Washington, took one of four from Saint Martin's, then three of four from Simon Fraser most recently to give them a 6-6 GNAC record and 13-14 overall. MSUB leads the conference in home runs thanks in large part to GNAC leader Emily Osborn's eight long balls to go with a .380 batting average. Benefiting ahead of her in the batting order has been Taylor Hoke (.412 BA, 20 R). In the circle, Jessyka MacDonald (8-5) has thrown nearly half the team's innings (85.1 IP) and has a 2.79 ERA to show for it. Though their last meeting was in 2013, ART U and MSU-Billings have faced one another twice with each winning once.

HILO ERUPTING TO THIRD IN PACWEST
Coming off a seventh place finish in the PacWest standings in 2014 after winning the conference title in 2013, UH Hilo has risen to now third in the PacWest this year. The Vulcans are 16-13 overall and have three wins against Dominican as well as two over Chamainade, Azusa Pacific, Holy Names, and NDNU to bring them into that position.  UH Hilo will face virtually all of the same teams as Academy of Art in the Tournament of Champions (except MSU-Billings) before they complete their mainland roadtrip at Mission Blue Field on Tuesday. Leading the Vulcans is Colleen Aubrey and her PacWest-best .473 batting average to go with 21 runs scored, four home runs, and 14 RBIs. Vanessa Salinas (10-7) brings in a 2.16 ERA with 13 complete games and 123.0 innings pitched. In 14 previous meetings, ART U and UH Hilo are an even 7-7.

ACADEMY OF ART STIFLES SWORDS IN SWEEP
ART U Softball returned to its winning ways on Mar. 24 with a sweep of Chaminade, 4-2 and an 8-0 run-rule, in a Pacific West Conference doubleheader out at Mission Blue Field. The one-two punch of freshman Brenna Mitchell (10-8) and sophomore Alexa Peters (4-7) kept the Silverswords scoreless through 10 of 12 innings and early offense gave Academy of Art leads to start both contests en route to the victories.

LOOKING AHEAD
ART U Softball remains in the Bay Area for the month of April, playing its final road games at Dominican (Apr. 4) and at SF State (Apr. 6) before a 10-game homestand concludes the 2015 regular season.