BRISBANE, Calif. – Renewing a rivalry that extended into Academy of Art softball's first-ever postseason run last year, ART U matched up with No. 14 Concordia (Calif.) at Mission Blue Field on Wednesday afternoon. The Urban Knights went faced one of the top pitchers in NCAA Division II in CUI's Callie Nunes (28-4) in the first contest and the Eagles would end up winning 4-0 with no hits allowed. Game two saw Nunes reappear in a relief role, but the Urban Knights put together multiple rallies and even brought the tying run to the plate in the finale frame. The end result, however, was a 5-3 victory for the visitors to complete the sweep despite two strong starts from junior Hannah Rose Balke (5-11) and sophomore Cecilia Lopez (8-6).

"I felt like we fought and definitely kept the games close while keeping the pressure on them," said head coach Alex Gomez. "We made a few mistakes defensively that they capitalized on and we have to clean that part up. I thought both Hannah and Cece did an amazing job today."

GAME 1 - #14 CUI 4, ART U 0
Balke faced a situation with two on in the opening inning, but worked through an eight-pitch at-bat to get a clutch strikeout and eventually exited with no harm done. Junior utility Dominique Seva'aetasi would draw a walk against Nunes in the Knights' half of the first, however, a pair of strikeouts ensued.

Continuing to get the outs she needed to keep Concordia off the scoreboard, Balke found herself in a pitchers' duel with Nunes through four full innings. Despite getting two outs early in the fifth, Balke was tagged for two runs on back-to-back singles and CUI would not look back. The Eagles rallied for two more in the sixth and a stretch of 17 batters retired by Nunes was finally broken up by another Seva'aetasi walk, but the 5-0 score was made final not long after.

Balke ended up with four runs allowed on nine hits and four walks along with three strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work. Freshman Haley Arnold-Jolley added one hitless and scoreless inning of relief.

GAME 2 - #14 CUI 5, ART U 3
Lopez and the Eagles' Erika Morris had their own pitchers' duel through the first two innings of the second contest with Lopez retiring nine of the first 11 batters she faced. In the third, Academy of Art broke through against Morris with sophomore catcher Alyssa Brundage working a leadoff walk and junior infielder Gracie Sotomayor following with a bunt single. Seva'aetasi brought one in on a single through the right side and she then executed a double steal with Sotomayor for the second run.

The 2-0 lead did not last long, however, as an error was followed by two run-scoring hits in the fourth, resulting in four unearned runs to put Concordia ahead 4-2. After Nunes came into the game to stop ART U's rally in the third, she faced some threatening situations. The first came in the bottom of the fourth when the bases were loaded on a hit batter, a walk, and a single by Sotomayor, but the crisis would be averted.

Another opportunity arose in the fifth when Seva'aetasi walked and sophomore catcher Lauryn Henderson singled, but two pinch-hit outs saw the score maintain. In the sixth, CUI tacked on one more run with a pair of singles, but that was matched in the sixth when Sotomayor roped a run-scoring triple to left center to make it a 5-3 ballgame.

Lopez, who gave up nine hits and did not walk anyone, did her part as just one of her five runs allowed was earned and her nine strikeouts (three which came in the seventh) were a career-high. Later in that final inning, the Knights started a potential comeback after freshman utility Nikki West singled to bring the possible tying run to the plate, but one last out ended it with the Eagles on top 5-3.

The day's results put ART U at 14-17 overall and 10-11 in conference play. Sotomayor's 3-for-3 effort with the triple, a run batted in, a run scored, and a stolen base in game two was the highlight while Seva'aetasi, who walked twice in the first contest, went 1-for-2 with a RBI, another walk, and a steal in the finale.

Winners of nine in a row, Concordia (Calif.) improves to 39-6 on the year and 25-3 to continue to top the PacWest standings. Offensively, the Eagles were led by a 5-for-7 doubleheader from Sydney Sprinkle that included one RBI. Throwing 182 pitches to complete 12.2 innings on the day, Nunes earned two victories with no earned runs allowed on four hits plus two walks and 16 strikeouts.

It will be a quick turnaround for Academy of Art with two road games at SF State tomorrow beginning at 11 a.m.

"I want the girls to really take it to SF State tomorrow," said Gomez. "It's a cross-town rivalry that I really want to spark some competitive hunger in our team. I want us scoring as much as possible, and that comes from never getting complacent or letting the opponent catch their breath."