Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

BRISBANE, Calif. – In a meeting of two teams sitting alongside one another in the Pacific West Conference standings, Academy of Art and Hawaii Pacific wound up splitting a Sunday doubleheader out at Mission Blue Field. After the Sharks scored five times in the final two innings to win game one 9-4, the Urban Knights fought back in game two to break a 4-4 tie on sophomore outfielder Hallie Curtis' home run in the sixth inning. ART U would triumph 6-4 and freshman Brenna Mitchell (19-12) would tie the program's single-season wins record with the victory.
 

Brenna Mitchell's 8th strikeout of Gm1 gets @ARTUSoftball out of a jam in T5! TheOcho PacWestSB #ArtSchool A video posted by Be Artist. Be Athlete. (@artu_knights) on Apr 19, 2015 at 1:34pm PDT

GAME ONE
HPU used a pair of two-run rallies in the first three innings to build a 4-0 lead as pitcher Kristen Caskey (11-9) helped her own cause with a two-run homer in the third.  Academy of Art closed the gap with a three-run push in the home half of the third with a two-run homer by senior infielder Taylor Thurman. Later a single from freshman infielder Samantha Klune mixed with an error to get the Knights' third run in.

The Sharks' 4-3 advantage held up for one more inning before the ninth career triple by senior outfielder Haily MacDonald drove in the tying run in the fourth. Mitchell struck out her seventh and eighth batters of the game to exit a jam in the fifth, but Hawaii Pacific used two run-scoring hits to put up three runs in the sixth.

Thurman, who had set one two the fence in the first and homered in the third, stepped to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded in the sixth. Four pitches in, she sent one into the outfield once again, but it was caught and ART U's best chance to comeback fell through. HPU added two more in the seventh and prevailed 9-4.

GAME TWO
Another early lead came for the Sharks in Sunday's finale after a double, steal, and wild pitch put the visitors up 1-0 in the first. Mitchell, who made her second start of the day, retired seven batters in a row from that point forward and it was in the third inning that the Urban Knights gained an advantage.

It began with back-to-back singles by Thurman and junior catcher Elise Oldham. Klune followed with a run-scoring double and sophomore outfielder Jessica West added a RBI single to make it four consecutive hits. Before Academy of Art was through, graduate student catcher Nirana Singh added a sacrifice fly on a foul out and the ART U lead became 3-1.

Pinch-runner Ariel Ajimura crossed home plate on a wild pitch in the fifth, but the Knights 4-1 advantage was nullified in the sixth when a three-run Sharks rally brought them all the way back. It did not take long for the 4-4 score to be broken up because Curtis led off the home half of the sixth with a blast to center on the first pitch she saw. HPU centerfielder Keila Elderts nearly made a spectacular play bouncing off the fence, but the ball wound up beyond the fence for Curtis' second career home run.

Thereafter in the inning, MacDonald logged her third hit of the day then stole her third base and was sacrificed to third. Thurman added a RBI single into left field and Mitchell sealed the 6-4 victory with a three-up, three-down seventh. She allowed three earned runs while striking out seven in a complete 7.0 innings. Her 19th win puts her into a tie with Sierrah Garcia for the single-season record while she becomes the second Urban Knight ever to post 20 complete games in one season.

ART U moves to 26-26 overall and 16-14 in PacWest play with two more games left to play in 2015. Curtis went 2-for-3 with the game-winning home run in game two while Thurman finished the day 3-for-8 with a home run, three RBIs, and two runs scored. MacDonald was 3-for-7 with three stolen bases, a triple, and one run scored. Besides Thurman and Curtis, Klune, West and Singh each drove in one run in the finale.

Hawaii Pacific remains chasing ART U in the PacWest standings with a 14-14 record to go with their 24-20 total overall. In their victory, Sharae Esprecion and Caskey each had two RBIs apiece while Caskey picked up the victory with a three runs allowed on nine hits in a complete 7.0 innings. Both teams collectively hit for the cycle in game one.

ART U looks ahead to one final home gameday this season: Saturday, Apr. 25 against Notre Dame de Namur. A special "Senior Day" celebration of Taylor Thurman, Jasmine Dickenson, Kamyle Glover, and Haily MacDonald will take place prior to the 12:00 p.m. start.