BRISBANE, Calif. – ­After nine of the first 11 Notre Dame de Namur outs were on strikes, it was clear freshman pitcher Brooke Larsen (7-1) was poised for a historic day. She would go on to strike out 13 total batters, the third-most in program history, while tossing a 2-0 shutout in ART U Softball's first game Friday out at Mission Blue Field. The Pacific West Conference doubleheader would end with a split as the Argonauts came back with a late rally to earn a 5-1 win in the second contest.

GAME 1 – ART U 2, NDNU 0
After getting ahead of and subsequently sitting down the first two batters she faced, Larsen struck out the side in both the second and third innings despite also allowing her first hit and walk in those frames as well.

The fifth was the only inning in which the dynamic freshman did not strike out a batter, but Larsen would soon pitch with a lead after freshman infielder Jayda Alaan reached on a fielder's choice, stole second, and then came home on a single by senior utility Brenna Mitchell.

Following Larsen's 10th and 11th strikeouts in the top of the sixth, she helped her own cause with a run-scoring double after junior infielder Brenna Youngquist's leadoff walk. Now up 2-0, the Urban Knights had no problem retiring NDNU in order in the seventh as Larsen logged two more punchouts en route to the victory.

GAME 2 – NDNU 5, ART U 1
Academy of Art put runners into scoring position in each of the first two innings of the second contest as Alaan singled and stole a base in the first then senior infielder Samantha Klune singled and sophomore infielder Gracie Sotomayor walked in the second. However, in both instances, ART U could not convert and the game remained scoreless until the fourth.

Freshman pitcher Cecilia Lopez (4-2) had been on her way to a perfect game through the first three innings, but a mistake came two outs into the fourth when Aurora Adams hit a solo homer to make it 1-0 NDNU. After the Argos pitched their way out of another jam in the fifth, a leadoff solo home run from Taylor Haynes started what became a four-run rally in the sixth.

Facing a 5-0 score in the seventh, the Knights' final opportunity began with a Klune leadoff double that was followed by back-to-back singles from Sotomayor and freshman catcher Alyssa Brundage. Brundage drove in one run, but three consecutive outs ended the potential rally thereafter, preserving the Argos' 5-1 win.

The split makes ART U 13-7 overall this season and 4-2 in PacWest play. Larsen's second shutout of the season featured not only the freshman's career-high, but also the third-most strikeouts in program history behind Sierrah Garcia's 16 from 2010 and Mitchell's 14 from 2015. Larsen allowed just two hits, walked one, and finished the day 2-for-6 offensively with a double and a run batted in. On the day, Klune went 3-for-4 with a double and Mitchell pushed her current hitting streak to 10 games with a 3-for-7 performance that included on RBI as well.

Notre Dame de Namur exits the day 4-16 overall and 3-6 in conference. Megan Lawson was 2-for-6 with a RBI on the day, Adams finished 1-for-6 with the homer, and Haynes ended game two 1-for-3 with her long ball as well. Defensively, Audree Vicory (1-3) earned the game two win with four shutout innings and Sofia Garcia surrendered just one run in three relief innings to capture her first save of the year.

After a day off from competition, Academy of Art will play host to Pace this Sunday, Mar. 11 at noon back at Mission Blue Field.