Game #31
ART U Urban Knights (13-16-1) vs. Sonoma State Seawolves (17-12)
Friday, April 1, 2016 at 2 p.m.
Turlock, Calif. – Pedretti Park (Field 5)
Live Stats

Game #32
ART U Urban Knights (13-16-1) vs. Cal State Monterey Bay Otters (15-15)
Friday, April 1, 2016 at 7 p.m.
Turlock, Calif. – Pedretti Park (Field 5)
Live Stats

Game #33
ART U Urban Knights (13-16-1) vs. Stanislaus State Warriors (17-16)
Saturday, April 2, 2016 at 2 p.m.
Turlock, Calif. – Pedretti Park (Field 2)
Live Stats

Game #34
ART U Urban Knights (13-16-1) vs. No. 25 Chico State Wildcats (20-10)
Saturday, April 2, 2016 at 7 p.m.
Turlock, Calif. – Pedretti Park (Field 1)
Live Stats

Game #35
ART U Urban Knights (13-16-1) vs. Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros (9-26)
Sunday, April 3, 2016 at 9 a.m.
Turlock, Calif. – Pedretti Park (Field 2)
Live Stats

Game #36
ART U Urban Knights (13-16-1) vs. Simon Fraser Clan (18-16)
Sunday, April 3, 2016 at 11:30 a.m.
Turlock, Calif. – Pedretti Park (Field 5)
Live Stats

ACADEMY OF ART BREAKS FROM PACWEST PLAY FOR TOC
As the Urban Knights have done for the past three seasons, Academy of Art University softball takes a trip to Turlock for an intensive weekend of games at the Tournament of Champions. Hosted by Stanislaus State and sponsored by the City of Turlock, the tournament features 26 teams from the PacWest, CCAA, and GNAC conferences and will see 77 games over the course of three days. ART U will play twice each day, totaling six games over Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Visit the Tournament of Champions homepage for more information!

FIRST PITCH
In Turlock for the Tournament of Champions, Academy of Art will begin by facing Sonoma State (2 p.m.) and Cal State Monterey Bay (7 p.m) on Friday, Apr. 1 at Pedretti Park (Field 5). Day two, Apr. 2, pits the Knights against host Stanislaus State (2 p.m.) then No. 23 Chico State at Pedretti Park (Fields 2 and 1 respectively). The third and final day of action features matchups with Cal State Dominguez Hills (9 a.m.) and Simon Fraser (11:30 a.m.) once more at Pedretti Park (Fields 2 and 5 respectively). Live coverage will be available via the links above. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights on Twitter & Instagram and "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

KNIGHT WATCH
Academy of Art has shown its depth on offense with now six players hitting .299 or above. PacWest Co-Player of the Week senior catcher Elise Oldham comes off a four-game homestand in which she hit .636 with six runs batted in and a home run in each of her last three games. She is now hitting .301 and entered a three-way tie for the lead in home runs (4) while fellow senior outfielder Andrea Gill has reached base in her last eight games while raising her batting average nearly 50 points. That tandem has combined to drive in 27 runs.

The team's batting average leader is still sophomore pitcher Brenna Mitchell at .413 (fifth in PacWest). She and freshman infielder Brenna Youngquist (.364) join Oldham with four home runs apiece. Concordia, California Baptist, and Hawaii Pacific are the only other teams from the PacWest to have three hitters among the top 20 in home runs. Junior outfielder Jessica West was a homer short of the cycle in her last game and is now hitting .361 with a four-game hit streak and a team-high 24 runs scored (15th in PacWest). Freshman infielder Juliana Lopez has reached base in 24 straight games and is hitting .343 on the year.

Defensively, Mitchell (8-5) remains the team's leader in earned run average (2.53, 10th in PacWest) with six complete games among her 85.2 innings pitched as well as 50 strikeouts. Freshman True Park (3-1) picked up two wins over this past weekend, allowing just three runs in 6.0 innings of work.

ART U'S HISTORY IN TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS
The Urban Knights' first appearance in the annual April gathering of West Region teams came in 2013. That year, Academy of Art finished 2-4 with wins over MSU-Billings and Notre Dame de Namur. In 2014, ART U was 1-5 after defeating Northwest Nazarene then, last season saw the most success for the Knights as they went 3-4, winning each day. Their 2015 campaign included a 2-1 win over Western Oregon in extra innings, a 7-2 victory against Simon Fraser, and finished by run-ruling Chaminade in a 13-3 triumph.

KNOWING SO-NOMA
Ranked No. 19 in the country earlier in the year, Sonoma State currently sits fourth in the CCAA after splitting with No. 25 Chico State and taking three of four from Cal State East Bay, Cal State San Marcos, and Cal State San Bernardino. SSU also went 2-1-1 against Cal State Monterey Bay, 1-3 at UC San Diego, and will play Western Washington on Mar. 31. The team is led by Jena Kaser (.386 AVG, 3 HR, 16 RBI) and Amanda Llerena (11-7, 1.53 ERA, 132.2 IP, 85 K). The Seawolves are 12-1 all-time against ART U.

OTTER OBSERVATIONS
Like Sonoma State, Cal State Monterey Bay was ranked No. 25 at the start of the season, but an up-and-down year has them 15-15 overall. Humboldt State swept the Otters in four before splits with Chico State and SF State. Most recently, CSUMB took three of four from UCSD and will play UH Hilo prior to the Knights in the TOC. Chase Robledo (.373, 2 HR, 13 RBI) is the team's batting average leader while Courtney Varela has 18 stolen bases in 19 attempts. In the circle, Tori Pierucci is 7-6 with a 2.85 ERA through 86.0 innings. The Otters hold a 4-1 advantage in the historical matchup with Academy of Art.

WARRIORS THIS WEEKEND
Host of the Tournament of Champions, Stanislaus State is one win over .500 at 17-16, having been swept by UCSD, sweeping Cal State San Marcos and CSUEB, taking just one from Cal State San Bernardino and Chico State, winning three of four against Cal State Dominguez Hills, splitting with SF State and Western Washington most recently. Stan State is set to face Hawaii Pacific and Notre Dame de Namur before ART U in the TOC. Alexus Martinez (.388 AVG, 11 RBI, 10 SB) and Cassidy Duke (.376 AVG, 5 HR, 21 RBI) lead the Warriors offensively with Kylie Ragsdale (10-10, 3.72 ERA, 126.0 IP) handling the majority of the work in the pitcher's circle. Stanislaus State is 6-3-1 all-time against the Knights.

IN THE WILD
Currently ranked No. 25 in NCAA Division II and third in the CCAA standings, Chico State opened its 2016 season with a split against Academy of Art then went on to split with SSU and CSUMB before taking three of four from UCSD and Stan State, sweeping Cal State San Bernardino, and going 1-3 against Humboldt State. NDNU, HPU, and Chaminade are on tap for the Wildcats before ART U in the TOC. Chico's primary run producer has been Desiree Gonzalez (.348 AVG, 3 HR, 29 RBI) while Brooke Langeloh (11-1, 2.28 ERA, 95.0 IP) has been tough to hit in the circle with a .197 batting average against. The split earlier in the year made the all-time matchup 5-2 Chico.

TORO TIME
It has been a rough season for Cal State Dominguez Hills at 9-26 overall thus far. After splitting with Cal State San Marcos to start CCAA play, the Toros have either been swept or took just one game from their next six conference series. CSUDH has Chaminade, Holy Names, NDNU, and UH Hilo before ART U in the TOC. Analisa Nicholson (.382 AVG, 3 HR, 14 RBI) and Damari Simon (.310 AVG, 8 HR, 24 RBI) are the offensive leaders with Jamie Duran (5-13, 3.73 ERA, 110.2 IP) handling the majority of the pitching work. The Toros have won both of the previous matchups with ART U.

SIMON SAYS
In the middle of the GNAC standings, Simon Fraser is 18-16 overall and bounced back from a 1-3 start to conference play (at Western Washington) by winning six straight with sweeps of MSU-Billings and Central Washington. Both Western Oregon and Saint Martin's later swept The Clan, but SFU also split with Northwest Nazarene. Simon Fraser will face HNU, Chaminade, UH Hilo, NDNU, and HPU before Academy of Art in the TOC. Nicole Ratel (.391 AVG, 5 HR, 34 RBI) is the team's offensive leader and Alia Stachoski (9-7, 4.07 ERA, 86 IP) carries the squad's lowest ERA. ART U's 7-2 victory over SFU last season was their first win in two historical meetings.

ART U HONORS BRISBANE, SPLITS WITH PENGUINS
The Academy of Art University softball bats came alive in game two on Mar. 26, contributing to an eight-run third inning that tied the program record en route to a split with Pacific West Conference rival Dominican. After a ceremonial first pitch thrown by mayor Cliff Lentz on Brisbane Appreciation Day out at Mission Blue Field, the Penguins won game one 4-2 behind early offense then ART U jumped ahead 10-2 in the first three innings of the finale and held on for an 11-6 victory.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Urban Knights will jump back into PacWest Conference play when they return from Turlock. Another intensive stretch will feature road games at Notre Dame de Namur (Apr. 8) the start of a 12-part homestand with Holy Names (Apr. 9) and Azusa Pacific (Apr. 12) on tap.