TURLOCK, Calif. – Finally taking the field after nearly two weeks of rainouts, Academy of Art softball found itself in two closely contested games against Stanislaus State at Warrior Softball Field on Friday. Bouncing back from a 3-0 loss in the opener, the Urban Knights got a brilliant pitching performance from sophomore
Cecilia Lopez (1-1) and a difference-making hit from freshman outfielder
Nikki West en route to the 2-1 victory to conclude the day.
GAME 1 – STAN 3, ART U 0
In the bottom of the opening inning, the Warriors put the game's first run on the scoreboard after a pair of one-out singles, a double steal, and an infield run-scoring single off the bat of Kyndra Marzorini. Following a single and her third stolen base of the season, sophomore catcher
Lauryn Henderson got herself into scoring position in the second, but Stanislaus State would hold onto its 1-0 lead at that point.
The Warriors would break through once more in the fourth with a two-run double from Deja Guzman and, despite Henderson's own two-base hit in the sixth, the 3-0 score favoring Stanislaus State would hold up until the game's end.
GAME 2 – ART U 2, STAN 1
Although the Warriors struck first with a run-scoring single from Lia Tom in the first inning of the day's second contest, Academy of Art provided a timely rebuttal in the second. It started with a leadoff single from junior utility
Dominique Seva'aetasi, continued with a pair of steals from the Seaside native, then culminated on a groundout from senior utility
Katie Tablada which brought her home.
Pitching around an error in the second and a double in the fourth, Lopez induced 13 of 15 potential outs across those four innings and was eventually the benefactor of a fifth inning rally. It started with consecutive singles by freshman infielder
Cassandra Mittman and Tablada which set up West's single up the middle to put the Urban Knights in front 2-1.
"The hit was part of a rally that the bottom of the lineup got going," said head coach
Alex Gomez. "They all started stringing together hits and it was great to see Nikki be able to feed off of that."
From there, Lopez and the ART U defense got out of two runners on in the sixth and another baserunner on in the seventh, securing the 2-1 victory and the day's split.
"I had the team talk positives and negatives from the first game and we really harped on scoring runs," said Gomez. "That was the first game this season we were blanked and the entire team agreed that's not how we play. I was calling a lot more hitting plays to move runners over because I saw some spots of weakness that we were able to capitalize on with Dom on base and her speed and it worked perfectly. Cassie was able to score on a close play, and it really got the girls fired up to back Cece up on the field."
With the doubleheader results, Academy of Art moves to 3-4 overall this season. West finished the day 2-for-4 with the game-winning run batted in and Seva'aetasi added a 2-for-6 day that included two stolen bases. Henderson was 2-for-3 with a double and a steal in the first game. One unearned run away from a shutout, Lopez threw a complete 7.0 innings with six hits allowed, two walks, and two strikeouts.
"I told her that she was on a comeback tour after some sickness had really affected her physically," said Gomez. "She came back with a vengeance and made it clear that, 'That's my normal,' and was very enthusiastic to be back out on the mound leading her team. She didn't just pitch well, she fielded and fueled the rest of the defense to make some amazing plays too."
Having played more than three times the number of games as the Urban Knights thus far, Stanislaus State is now 9-14 on the year. Garvin had arguably the most productive day for the Warriors, going 4-for-7 with two runs scored and two steals. In addition to going 1-for-2 with the game-winning RBI in game one, Marzorini (6-5) also tossed the shutout in the opener with five hits and one walk allowed as well as six strikeouts in a complete 7.0 innings pitched.
The Urban Knights will now once again attempt to play their first home games of the season with No. 3 Concordia coming to Mission Blue Field to start a four-part series over two days beginning with a doubleheader this Sunday, Mar. 10 at noon.
