HAYWARD, Calif. – Despite getting out to an early lead in game one, Academy of Art University softball was the victim of multiple big rally innings by Cal State East Bay out at Pioneer Field on Friday morning. A 12-run fourth propelled CSUEB to a 14-2 game one win in five innings and 10 runs through the first pair of innings in game two enabled the Pioneers to win 13-3.

GAME 1
Freshman outfielder Gabi Hirsch initiated the ART U offense in the bottom of the first, leading off with a double then stealing third base. Shortly thereafter, sophomore outfielder Juliana Lopez brought her in with a sacrifice fly and the Urban Knights were on the board 1-0.

Senior pitcher Alexa Peters (0-1) threw three scoreless innings to start and made a head's up play in the third inning, covering third base for a pair of outs after an aggressive sacrifice bunt. Her cause was aided by another run in the bottom half of that inning when freshman infielder Freddie Carrillo's run-scoring single followed up senior outfielder Jessica West's double.

A 2-0 ballgame took a drastic turn the other way in the fourth, however. A seven-hit rally produced 12 Pioneer runs including two homers by Emilie Portesi. The score was 14-2 after Cal State East Bay added two more in the fifth and, though ART U got two aboard on singles in the fifth, the margin proved too great.

GAME 2
CSUEB's momentum from its season opener carried into the early part of the second contest as the Pioneers plated six runs on three homers in the first. Four more came in the second, three on a triple by Tanya Galvan, and a three-run homer by Ali Cerminara pushed the margin to 13-0 through two and a half.

In the bottom of the third, West drove in redshirt freshman catcher Adrianna Rupright on a single for the Knights' first run, but ART U faced a tall order entering the fifth behind 13-1. Two singles and a walk eventually loaded the bases for Carrillo who brought in two with a double, but time ran out on the comeback.

ART U moves to 1-3 on the year after its second doubleheader of 2017. Hirsch, who is now on a three-game hitting streak, finished the day 3-for-5 with a double and a stolen base. West was 2-for-6 in the two games with a double and one RBI.

Cal State East Bay starts its season 2-0 and relied heavily on Portesi who went 4-for-5 with three homers, five runs scored, and six runs batted in. Olivia McWhorter (1-0) picked up the game one win with two runs allowed in five innings while Abby Greer (1-0) threw 3.0 innings with only a single unearned run allowed.

Academy of Art returns to Mission Blue Field on Friday, Feb. 10 to host Northwest Nazarene in a doubleheader beginning at noon.