ACADEMY OF ART PLAYS PENGUINS, HAWKS TO WRAP UP 2016
ART U softball moves into its final weekend of competition in a battle for one of three spots in the Pacific West Conference standings. Currently eighth, Academy of Art has the potential to outs Bay Area rival Dominican for the sixth spot as the Urban Knights take on the Penguins in San Rafael this Saturday before hosting Holy Names in a rain-rescheduled matchup for Sunday's season finale.

FIRST PITCH
ART U's final road doubleheader comes this Saturday, Apr. 30 when the Knights travel across the San Francisco Bay to face Dominican starting at noon. On Sunday, May 1, Academy of Art hosts Holy Names for a pair at Mission Blue Field at noon. 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
Named PacWest Player of the Week for the first time in her career, junior outfielder Jessica West comes off a four-game series with No. 16 California Baptist that saw her hit .643 with two home runs and nine runs scored. Her 39 runs scored rank ninth in the PacWest this season while her .364 batting average is 17th overall. She would need to touch home 12 more times to break the ART U single-season record (50) set by Haily MacDonald last year.

Freshman infielder Juliana Lopez comes into this final weekend hitting .333 and having reached base in 34 of her 40 games played. Freshman infielder Brenna Youngquist leads the team with seven home runs (10th in PacWest), 38 runs batted in (8th in PacWest), and 11 doubles (13th in PacWest) all while hitting .318. After fittingly breaking the Academy of Art career caught stealing record (29) on Senior Day, senior catcher Elise Oldham will go for another career record as she has 17 home runs (six this year) and needs four to tie program record holder assistant coach Alana Aweau.

In the circle, sophomore Brenna Mitchell (11-12) ranks fifth in the PacWest in strikeouts (79) and sixth in innings pitched (133.2). Additionally, Mitchell is hitting .306 with eight doubles, five home runs, and 22 RBIs.

MARCH OF THE PENGUINS
Since splitting with ART U back on Mar. 26 in Brisbane, Dominican won just one of six games in the Tournament of Champions, split with Holy Names, was swept by Humboldt State, swept Notre Dame de Namur in a four-game series, then dropped a pair to Azusa Pacific. This Saturday represents the Penguins' final games of the year, but with the PacWest standings so closely bunched, their sixth place position is not a guarantee. Katelyn Harden (.342 AVG, 25 RBIs) and Catlyn Cavender (.336AVG, 5 HR, 25 RBI) lead Dominican offensively while Gaby Katafias (6-8, 3.51 ERA, 100.0 IP) sports the best number of five pitchers. The split earlier this year put Academy of Art ahead 21-11 all-time against the Penguins.

NAME GAMES
After being swept by the Urban Knights on Feb. 27, Holy Names had mixed results in Hawaii, falling to Hawaii Pacific in four, but taking three of four from BYU-Hawaii and Chaminade. The Hawks were swept by both California Baptist and NDNU then won two of six at the Tournament of Champions. Since returning, HNU split four with Dominican then dropped twinbills to Dixie State and Azusa Pacific. Holy Names is scheduled to play NDNU on Apr. 30 before finishing its year at ART U on Sunday. Geena Garabedian remains the team leader offensively, hitting .331 with three home runs and 19 RBIs and Kristina Carbajal (8-11, 4.11 ERA, 126.0 IP) is their leader in the pitcher's circle. ART U moved to 14-5 all-time versus the Hawks including 10 consecutive victories.

SENIORS HAVE THEIR DAY IN FINALE WITH CBU
Academy of Art University softball sent its two seniors, outfielder Andrea Gill and catcher Elise Oldham, with two hard-fought games against the No. 16 team in the country on Apr. 23 at Mission Blue Field. Despite an early California Baptist lead in game one, ART U came within striking distance before late rallies gave the Lancers a 7-2 win. Then, the Urban Knights quickly went ahead in the second contest, withstood the CBU's rallies, and trailed by two in the late innings before falling 10-6. Among the highlights were Gill stealing a home run in center field and Oldham breaking the career record for runners caught stealing.