Games #9 & 10
ART U Urban Knights (3-5, 3-5 PacWest) vs. Dominican Penguins (7-5, 6-2 PacWest)
Friday, March 26, 2021 at Noon & 2 p.m.
San Rafael, Calif. – Penguin Field
Live Stats
 
Games #10 & 11
ART U Urban Knights (3-5, 3-5 PacWest) vs. Dominican Penguins (7-5, 6-2 PacWest)
Saturday, March 27, 2021 at Noon & 2 p.m.
Brisbane, Calif. – Mission Blue Field
Live Stats & Video

ART U LOOKS TO CONTINUE WIELDING HOT BATS IN PENGUINS REMATCH
Riding the momentum of scoring 17 runs in its last two games, Academy of Art softball will have its second chance to challenge now the team with the best record in the Pacific West Conference Northern California pod in Dominican this Friday and Saturday.

FIRST PITCH
In a rematch from the start of the season, ART U will first face Dominican at Penguin Field in San Rafael this Friday, Mar. 26. The following afternoon on Saturday, Mar. 27, Academy of Art will host the Penguins at Mission Blue Field. Both doubleheaders are set to begin at noon. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights via the athletics app (Apple App Store, Google Play Store) and on Twitter & Instagram, as well as "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

KNIGHT WATCH
Unleashing a power surge in its most recent doubleheader, Academy of Art launched five home runs while moving to 3-5 both overall and in conference play. Following a 7-6 victory that saw freshman infielder Haley Randall and junior catcher Lauryn Henderson each homer, the trio of graduate student infielder Chelsea Sligh, sophomore outfielder Bethany Mitchell, and Henderson each deposited a ball in the outfield en route to a thrilling 10-8 walk-off win in the ninth inning, capping the Mar. 20 doubleheader. The Urban Knights are suddenly ranked third in the entire PacWest with five homers thus far.

Three ART U batting averages sit above .300 through the first eight games and those belong to graduate student outfielder Gabi Hirsch (.393), Sligh (.375), and Mitchell (.333). Hirsch's is currently 10th in the PacWest and comes with three stolen bases which keeps her tied with Elyse Cordova for second in the program's career history at 57, trailing only Haily MacDonald's 64. Sligh became the 20th Urban Knight ever to register four hits in a game with her most recent 4-for-4 performance while Mitchell's five runs batted in (11th in PacWest) and four doubles (first in PacWest) pace the team. Henderson's two homers are tied for fifth in the conference (six off the Urban Knights career record) while her active reached base streak is up to seven straight games.

Both junior pitcher Cecilia Lopez (1-1) and senior Hannah Rose Balke (2-3) check in with earned run averages below 2.75. Lopez sits at 2.68 after amassing 10 strikeouts over 15.2 innings while Balke has fanned 17 (two back of Brenna Mitchell for third-most in Academy of Art carer history) in her 33.1 innings of work and needs just one more win to break the ART U career record as the first 40-game winner.

PENGUIN PERUSAL
Departing the PacWest Northern California pod to play non-conference games against Biola this past week, Dominican saw its record even out a bit to 7-5 overall despite still ranking second overall in the PacWest at 6-2. The Penguins dropped three of four to the Eagles, but won the series finale 2-1 thanks largely to a strong start from Shelby Keltner (4-3) who currently leads the team in innings pitched (34.0) and strikeouts (32). Ranking 13th in the conference, Peyton Mott's .400 batting average comes with team-highs of nine RBIs (fourth in PacWest) and five steals (second in PacWest). Over the course of 48 previous meetings, Academy of Art is ahead of Dominican 33-15.

ON THE HORIZON
Prior to ART U's next series with Holy Names (Apr. 9-10), a newly added non-conference noon doubleheader will pit the Urban Knights against Northwest Nazarene on Apr. 7 at Mission Blue Field.