Games #12 & 13
ART U Urban Knights (6-4) vs. No. 15 Cal State Monterey Bay (4-5)
Sunday, February 18, 2018 at Noon & 2 p.m.
Seaside, Calif. – Otter Sports Complex
Live Stats | Live Audio

Games #14 & 15
ART U Urban Knights (6-4, 0-0 PWC) vs. Dominican Penguins (2-8, 0-0 PWC)
Monday, February 19, 2018 at 1 & 3 p.m.
Brisbane, Calif. – Mission Blue Field
Live Stats

URBAN KNIGHTS  MATCH UP WITH OTTERS, PENGUINS IN BACK-TO-BACK SWING
Undefeated at home and approaching the start of Pacific West Conference play, Academy of Art University softball heads to No. 15 Cal State Monterey Bay this Sunday then returns to Mission Blue Field to play its first conference games of the year against Dominican.

FIRST PITCH
Academy of Art takes the field at the Otter Sports Complex in Seaside, Calif. this Sunday, Feb. 18 to face Cal State Monterey Bay in a noon doubleheader. The next day, Monday, Feb. 19, ART U meets Dominican for both teams' first PacWest Conference games of the season at Mission Blue Field in Brisbane. First pitch for that doubleheader is set for 1 p.m. 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
As a team, Academy of Art is currently the PacWest leader in combined earned run average (2.37), innings pitched (68.0), and tied for second in the PacWest in stolen bases (14). The team's leader both in batting average and ERA has been none other than Brooke Larsen, PacWest Conference Freshman of the Week for the second consecutive week. She is hitting .368 with two doubles and is just one of five Urban Knights hitting over .300. Senior pitcher Brenna Mitchell (1-2) ranks second on the team at .357 and senior infielder Samantha Klune comes into this weekend hitting .355, is tied for the team-best with two homers, and has four extra-base hits. Freshman catcher Lauryn Henderson, who also has two homers, is posting a .350 batting average thus far with seven runs batted in. With the second-most steals (5) in the conference, sophomore outfielder Gabi Hirsch is hitting .320 and is second on the team in on-base percentage (.452) behind Henderson (.458). Still atop the PacWest in times hit by a pitch (9), freshman infielder Jayda Alaan is beyond halfway to the program's single-season record (15) and one-third of the way to the career record (27).

Larsen (3-1) offered a pair of wins with just one earned run allowed in 14.0 innings of work. She now leads the PacWest in complete games (4) and is second in ERA (0.90), innings pitched (31.0), and strikeouts (30). 

OBSERVING THE OTTERS
In the MSUB Desert Stinger with Academy of Art, No. 15 Cal State Monterey Bay began the year with wins over Saint Martin's and Northwest Nazarene, but then fell to Eastern New Mexico, Central Washington, and Concordia (Calif.). The Otters then split four games with Cal State East Bay to start California Collegiate Athletic Association play and will face Holy Names on Feb. 17 prior to meeting ART U. CSUMB, who made it to the NCAA West Regional portion of the NCAA Tournament last year, comes off a 43-13 campaign in 2017. Marissa Hukkanen is the Otters' offensive leader with a .407 batting average while Courtney Hennings adds team-highs in both homers (3) and RBIs (11). In the circle, Hayley Fein (2-3) has posted a 3.00 ERA in 30.1 innings. Cal State Monterey Bay leads the Knights 6-1 in the all-time matchup.

THE FIRST DOMINICAN DUEL
Through their first 10 games of 2018, the Penguins are 2-8 with wins over Chadron State and Western New Mexico both in Dixie State's non-conference tournament. Dominican has not scored in its past two games (losses to Colorado School of Mines and Sonoma State), but hosts Antelope Valley on Feb. 17 before facing Academy of Art. The Penguins are tied with ART U for the second-most steals in the PacWest (14) and McKenzie Schumacher is a big reason as her six thefts are tied for the lead in the conference. Alyssa Ramirez paces the Penguins with a .393 batting average and Alyssa Waltman (1-3) offers the lowest ERA (3.38) on the team. Historically, the Knights lead Dominican 23-11 in the all-time series.

SOFTBALL STAYS UNDEFEATED AT HOME WITH SWEEP OF SAINTS
After a sharing a special moment with visitors from San Francisco Little League prior to games on Feb. 11, Academy of Art University Softball proceeded to sweep its doubleheader with Saint Martin's (4-2 in game one and 4-1 in game two), making it four consecutive home wins to start 2018. The Urban Knights were led by a pair of impressive pitching performances from freshmen Brooke Larsen (3-1) and Cecilia Lopez (1-0) who both threw complete games with only one earned run allowed.

LOOKING AHEAD
A newly added non-conference doubleheader at SF State comes up next Friday, Feb. 23 and will be followed by a Sunday, Mar. 4 twinbill at Holy Names.