BRISBANE, Calif. – The wins kept coming for Academy of Art University Softball on Saturday out a Mission Blue Field. Supporting the "Strike Out Cancer" cause toward raising money for the American Cancer Society, freshman starters
Brooke Larsen (18-3) and
Cecilia Lopez (9-4) were nearly unhittable as first-inning rallies were held in both games for the sweep of Hawaii Pacific. Confident through a 1-0 victory, Larsen pitched a perfect game through six innings only to allow a hit in the seventh. Though the Sharks scored in the first inning against Lopez, she was given a 2-1 lead and proceeded to fire six shutout innings thereafter for the Urban Knights' 17 wins in their past 18 games.
"Brooke and Cece were very locked in today," said head coach
Sonja Garnett. "They threw terrific games and our defense played well behind them. HPU is a good team and to hold them to one run for the day was impressive."
GAME 1 – ART U 1, HPU 0
Going to work on the first pitch she saw on Saturday, sophomore outfielder
Gabi Hirsch legged out an infield single, stole second, and suddenly Academy of Art found itself with a scoring opportunity. After senior utility
Brenna Mitchell dropped down a sacrifice bunt, senior infielder
Samantha Klune delivered Hirsch on a groundout and the Knights led 1-0 after one inning.
Both Larsen and HPU starter Jordan Curry (5-6) then proceeded to enter into an impressive pitchers' duel that saw both sides combine to retire all 12 batters in the second and third innings. Klune singled in the fourth to break up Curry's streak, but Larsen continued to maintain absolute control.
Larsen would go on to retire the first 20 batters she faced, vying for the first perfect game in program history with fearless defense behind her. After striking out her fifth batter to begin the seventh inning, however, Sierra Dias poked a single into center field to stop the freshman ace just short. Larsen finished off the 1-0 victory with two successive outs after the hit, giving Academy of Art momentum heading into the day's finale.
GAME 2 – ART U 2, HPU 2
Four batters into the second game, it appeared Hawaii Pacific was ready to change the script as a leadoff triple was later followed by a run-scoring single for a 1-0 lead heading to the bottom of the first inning. However, a quick rebuttal from the Knights featured four singles including hits from Larsen and sophomore infielder
Gracie Sotomayor that each produced a run.
Arming Lopez with a 2-1 lead after the first frame, ART U was back in the driver's seat. Lopez retired the next 10 batters she faced before a fielding error allowed a runner to reach in the fifth. That miscue was quickly erased, however, when freshman infielder
Jayda Alaan made an impressive dive for a ball in the infield which turned into an inning-ending double play.
Though the Sharks managed to get a runner to third in the sixth on an error and two groundouts, Lopez remained stingy after inducing a grounder back into her own glove to deny the tying run from touching home. Unfazed by two pinch-hitters in the seventh, Lopez made it six consecutive batters retired to secure the 2-1 victory, fittingly ending on a strikeout.
ART U rises to 33-12 overall and 16-6 in PacWest play with the day's results. Larsen faced just 22 batters in her conference-leading ninth shutout of the season, giving up just the one hit with no walks and five strikeouts in her 17th complete game of the year. Lopez also went a full 7.0 innings with just one run allowed on two hits and one walk along with five strikeouts. Klune finished the twinbill 3-for-5 with one run batted in, Hirsch improved her active streak of reaching base to 16 games by going 3-for-6 with two steals and a run scored, and Sotomayor had one of the team's three RBIs as part of a 1-for-5 day.
"We need to make a very small adjustment between the ears," said Garnett. "We are over thinking and need to simplify our approach. I trust our players to make that adjustment."
As part of their "Strike Out Cancer" promotion, ART U ended up raising more than $1,100 for the American Cancer Society through in-person donations and online at
www.artuathletics.com/StrikeOutCancer.
"Strike Out Cancer Day was a huge success," said Garnett. "We raised over $1,000 for the American Cancer Society. It also created an important conversation with our players about how this disease has impacted so many of our family members. I think it was a special day for this team."
Hawaii Pacific ends Saturday with a 21-16 overall record plus 14-12 in conference. Nearly matching Larsen, HPU's Curry went a complete 6.0 innings of game one and surrendered just one run on two hits with a walk and two strikeouts. Game two starter Gabriella Nowack (4-4) also logged 6.0 innings with two runs allowed on eight hits in addition to a walk and one strikeout. Offensively, Sienna Santiago were each 1-for-6 in the doubleheader with a run scored and a RBI respectively.
Academy of Art will face Hawaii Pacific twice more tomorrow in a noon doubleheader back out at Mission Blue Field. It will be "Dog Day" as fans are encouraged to bring their furry friends out to the ballpark to socialize in the outfield and a "Pup Parade" will be taking place prior to game one at noon. Treats will be available.
