BRISBANE, Calif. – Continuing their dominant start to Pacific West Conference play, ART U softball posted its second consecutive sweep, defeating Notre Dame de Namur 2-1 in 10 innings before coming back with a 8-0 run-rule victory in five innings of game two. Freshman Infielder
Gracie Sotomayor delivered the game-winning single in the opener and freshman pitcher
Hannah Rose Balke (8-3) was dominant all day, providing scoreless relief in the first contest then posting the program's first no-hitter against a NCAA Division II team in the finale.
GAME 1 – ART U 2, NDNU 1 (10)
After a scoreless first, the Argonauts plated one unearned run against starter sophomore
True Park (2-3) in the second, but that's all she would allow over a total of five innings. In the fourth, Academy of Art evened the score on a double play groundout and, despite putting runners on base thereafter, neither team brought anyone home until the 10th inning.
Balke made her first appearance of the day in the sixth after NDNU's leadoff double and proceeded to strike out a pair before stranding the runner. She would strike out at least one batter in three of the next four innings she threw.
Before heading to extras, the Knights had a scoring opportunity in the bottom of the seventh with two on, but it was not to be at that point. The 10th inning triggered the international tiebreaker rule which places a runner at second to start the inning and, for ART U, a head's up play by junior infielder
Samantha Klune helped Academy of Art turn two to erase the threat. Promptly in the bottom half, freshman catcher
Ryia Grant bunted senior outfielder
Hallie Curtis to third and Sotomayor then connected for the game-winning one-out single in a 2-1 victory.
GAME 2 – ART U 8, NDNU 0 (5)
Just one hit was had between both teams in the first two innings, but the Knights' bats awoke quickly in the third inning beginning with Sotomayor's single. A two-out run-scoring single by senior outfielder
Jessica West broke the scoreless tie and a pair of doubles by freshman infielder
Freddie Carrillo and Klune boosted the lead to 3-0 by the end of the inning.
After hitting a batter with two down in the second, Balke proceeded to retire the next 11 batters while her team thrived at the plate in the fourth. After an error scored the first run, freshman outfielder
Gabi Hirsch drove in the second, and Sotomayor once more came through with a two-run double to make it 7-0. A wild pitch scored the crucial eighth-run and the game was left to Balke to finish in the fifth. Academy of Art would win its fourth straight, putting away Notre Dame de Namur 8-0.
ART U improves to 11-7 overall and 5-1 in PacWest play with the day's results. Balke finished the doubleheader with no hits, runs, or walks plus eight strikeouts in 10.0 innings pitched. She had two hit batters (one in each game) with one of those denying her the perfect game. The freshman's no-hitter, however, was the second in program history after Sierrah Garcia held Patten hitless for 5.0 innings on
Mar. 6, 2010.
Offensively, West was 5-for-7 with two runs batted in and pushed her reached base streak to 18 games (every contest this season). Sotomayor drove in three including the pair while going 2-for-3 in the second game. Grant was 2-for-3 with two walks and Klune was 2-for-3 with a double and a RBI game two.
NDNU falls to 3-7 overall and 3-5 in conference play. Tivoli Sisco finished as the team's best performer, going 1-for-6 with a RBI. Game one starter Audree Vicory (1-3) picked up the tough-luck loss, throwing 9.2 innings while allowing no earned runs on seven hits and striking out three.
Having finished a stretch of six games at home, Academy of Art now turns its attention to three Southern California PacWest Conference opponents, California Baptist (Mar. 14), Azusa Pacific (Mar. 16), and Concordia (Mar. 18-19), whom the Knights will face next week.
