The Tournament of Champions out at Pedretti Park started in thrilling fashion for Academy of Art University softball. After gaining a 4-1 lead against Simon Fraser, the Urban Knights came up with a clutch run in the seventh to eventually send the game into the eighth where a four-run rally pushed ART U ahead just enough to outlast The Clan's comeback and prevail 9-8. The second contest pit Academy of Art against Western Washington and an eight-run fourth inning led the Vikings to a 12-0 victory in five innings.
GAME 1 – ART U 9, SFU 8 (8)
Three errors helped the Knights gain a 2-0 lead in the second inning before ART U returned the favor with an unearned run for Simon Fraser in the bottom half. A double by senior outfielder
Jessica West and single by freshman infielder
Freddie Carrillo set up an opportunity to score on a double steal attempt then, with the bases empty, sophomore infielder
Brenna Youngquist blasted her second home run of the year to push a 4-1 advantage.
Freshman pitcher
Hannah Rose Balke (13-5) had allowed just two hits through the first three innings, but three more came in the fourth along with another run. That started a string of three consecutive innings in which SFU scored with the sixth seeing The Clan finally go ahead 5-4 on a double steal attempt.
Now faced with a must-score situation in the seventh, Academy of Art answered the call. Singles by Lopez and Carrillo as well as a Youngquist walk set the table for redshirt freshman catcher
Adrianna Rupright's game-tying sacrifice fly. Although Simon Fraser got the winning run to second in the seventh, Balke's fifth strikeout and a fielder's choice ended the threat.
Small-ball, the international tiebreaker rule, and a run-scoring single from freshman infielder
Gracie Sotomayor helped ART U break a 5-5 tie in the eighth, but the Knights were not done. On a single up the middle by Lopez, two errors led to another run then West delivered a third on her double, and Carrillo came back what would prove to be a critical run batted in on her single.
Academy of Art's 9-5 lead did not last in the bottom of the eighth as three hits produced three runs. However, with the game-winning run standing on second base, Balke induced a difficult popup that carried into left field, but junior infielder
Samantha Klune was able to snag it over her shoulder for the 9-8 victory.
"We had a great win against Simon Fraser," said head coach
Sonja Garnett. "Hannah threw a good game and remained tough through adversity today. Our defense played very strong behind her."
GAME 2 – WWU 12, ART U 0 (5)
A triple by Lopez highlighted the first inning against Western Washington, but the Vikings scored once in the second, twice in the third, and made their big move with eight runs on six hits in the fourth.
WWU would add one more in the fifth and ended up quickly finishing off the 12-0 win in five innings.
Following the first day of action in the Tournament of Champions, ART U is now 16-18 overall. Carrillo finished the pair of games 5-for-6 with one run batted in and furthered her team-best 12-game hit streak, Lopez went 3-for-6 with a stolen base and the second triple of her career, and West ended up 3-for-7 with two doubles plus one RBI. Youngquist hit her team-leading second homer in a 1-for-4 performance. Balke threw a career-high 152 pitches and ended with her 13th win which now leads the PacWest Conference. Her 8.0 innings pitched tied her for the fifth-most in program history.
Simon Fraser falls to 7-14 on the year and committed six errors in the game. Western Washington improves to 13-11 after amassing 11 hits in the second contest.
Academy of Art returns to Pedretti Park to face Western Oregon (9 a.m.) and Central Washington (11:30 a.m.) tomorrow for day two of the Tournament of Champions.
"This is a very special group to coach and I look forward to going to battle with them again tomorrow," said Garnett.
