MORAGA, Calif. – In two games that followed oddly similar progressions, Holy Names edged Academy of Art softball with a pair of 6-5 walk off wins at Saint Mary's Cottrell Field on Saturday afternoon. The Urban Knights struck first in both Pacific West Conference contests and even plated two runs in each game's respective seventh inning, but the Hawks ended up having the final word on both occasions, sweeping the doubleheader.

"The team definitely battled offensively, I just don't think we capitalized defensively after a good inning of hitting," said head coach Alex Gomez. "We need to come out after scoring and really focus on one-two-three innings to back it up. I saw a lot of positive things from the lineup and want to take what we can to learn and grow."

GAME 1 – HNU 6, ART U 5
After exchanging a scoreless first inning with Holy Names, Academy of Art converted two walks into a pair of runs as junior utility Dominique Seva'aetasi and freshman utility Nikki West each stole bases and utilized wild pitches to help them score. West would come in on a groundout by sophomore catcher Alyssa Brundage.

The Hawks came back with a run later that inning and, after a run-scoring double by sophomore catcher Lauryn Henderson in the third, back-to-back doubles led HNU to tie up the contest 3-3. For the two and a half innings that followed, only one runner reached base (via a walk) as redshirt sophomore Sarah Wapner (1-0) fired two scoreless relief frames.

In the sixth, Holy Names moved in front after three hits produced two runs for a 5-3 lead, applying pressure to ART U to score in the seventh. Following a leadoff triple by West, her second in as many games, the Urban Knights would do just that with Brundage driving in her teammate on a groundout and freshman infielder Cassandra Mittman's single producing her first collegiate run batted in to tie the game 5-5.

The Hawks would deny Academy of Art's attempt to send the opening contest into extra innings with a rally in their half of the seventh. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases and though the Knights got the second out of the frame, a single by Aly Cerda served as the walk-off hit for a 6-5 HNU victory.

GAME 2 – HNU 6, ART U 5
After starting the second contest by reaching on an error, junior outfielder Gabi Hirsch later scored on a Henderson single and Academy of Art was up 1-0 briefly before Holy Names tied it with its own run-scoring single in the bottom half of the first. Matching its 2-1 lead from the second inning of game one, ART U benefited from another error and it was Brundage who provided the single and RBI.

Sophomore pitcher Cecilia Lopez (2-3) retired six of the eight batters she faced in quiet second and third innings before the offense gave her a 3-1 advantage in the fourth on an error that followed senior utility Katie Tablada's single. Lopez and the Knights defense forced another zero later that inning, but the streak was stopped in the fifth after HNU made it 3-2 with a two-out double.

Though Academy of Art did not score after loading the bases in the sixth, a rally in the seventh triggered the start of some déjà vu. It began with a leadoff triple by freshman outfielder Bethany Mitchell (the first of her career), was helped by an infield error, and finished with Seva'aetasi's run-scoring single to give her team a 5-2 lead moving to the bottom of the frame. There, two errors combined with two singles, a double, and a walk before Cerda once again broke the 5-5 tie with a bases-loaded single for the win.

After its third conference twinbill this season, Academy of Art is now 5-6 overall and 4-2 in PacWest play. Productive in both games, Hirsch finished the day 4-for-8 with a double, one RBI, a steal, and two runs scored while Seva'aetasi also hit .500 (3-for-6) and added a double, one RBI, a steal, and two runs scored of her own. Henderson went 3-for-7 with a double and two driven in, but the day's RBI leader was Brundage who plated three as part of a 1-for-6 combined performance.

Now 9-12 on the season and 8-8 in conference action, Holy Names' heroine Cerda went 2-for-5 with the game-winning RBIs in each contest. Defensively, Haighley Kissee (4-3) picked up the win with two-thirds of a relief inning in the opener and Chailey Stewart (2-6) earned the game two victory after allowing three unearned runs on eight hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 6.1 innings of work.

"Games are always going to expose us for what we are," said Gomez. "I see a lot of potential and I know that the beginning of this season has made it really hard for our team to stay 'game ready' all the time. Long breaks between games and cancellations have put us at the end of March with 11 games under our belt. We are finally getting to see who we are and really get a sense for the type of games we are capable of playing."

The Urban Knights now look ahead to a busy week of action with the Tournament of Champions on the horizon. ART U will take on UC San Diego and Central Washington on Mar. 29, then Cal State East Bay and Concordia (Ore.) on Mar. 30, and finishes with Montana State Billings on Mar. 31. Academy of Art may play makeup games in Turlock prior to the tournament so stay tuned to Twitter for updates.