TUCSON, Ariz. – All eyes were on freshman pitcher Julia Jordan (0-2) throughout Academy of Art softball's first of two games in the Montana State Billings Desert Stinger from Lincoln Park on Friday. Allowing just one run in her second consecutive start, Jordan kept the Urban Knights within striking distance of Central Washington throughout her first collegiate complete game, but the Wildcats ended up escaping with a 1-0 win. MSUB then defeated ART U 14-3 with steady offense in the nightcap.

GAME 1 – CWU 1, ART U 0
After a scoreless first, Academy of Art put two into scoring position in the second with junior outfielder Bethany Mitchell singling and freshman infielder Carina Sanchez walking, but the Knights could not score. Another leadoff single, this one from freshman sophomore outfielder Cailee Grayhorse-Pupecki, led her to reach third where she was stranded in the next inning.

Jordan held the Wildcats to no runs and just three hits in the first three innings, but a two-out double followed a single in the fourth to plate the game's lone run. Runners were again in scoring position for ART U in the sixth and seventh as a walk and a passed ball set things up in the former and a single with two wild pitches brought the tying run to within 60 feet in the latter. Central Washington, however, was able to induce the final out toward a 1-0 victory.

GAME 2 – MSUB 14, ART U 3 (6)
In a rematch from last week, tournament host Montana State Billings was the first to score with a walk and a single in the opening inning. The Knights put two on in the first but could not come away with a tie then, despite a bases-loaded jam in the second, sophomore pitcher Jolene Rhoades (0-4) and the ART U defense held MSUB to just one run on a sacrifice fly.

The margin was shortened later in the frame when freshman utility Elle Edeker launched a triple down the right field line and came around to score on a two-out single from Grayhorse-Pupecki. The Yellowjackets answered with a leadoff homer in the third, but Academy of Art would close in once again with junior catcher/utility Cassandra Mittman's run-scoring double after a MSUB error started the inning.

Montana State Billings pulled away with three runs in the fourth, however, and added more with seven scores in the sixth to go up 14-2. Edeker began the bottom of the frame with a single and was later plated on graduate student utility Nina Vallejos' single, but the run rule triggered when the inning concluded with no further offense.

Academy of Art, now 0-7 to start 2022, got hits in both games from Mittman who finished 2-for-4 with a double and her first run batted in of the year while Edeker went 2-for-2 with a triple in the second game and scored two runs. Grayhorse-Pupecki also had hits in both games, ending 2-for-5 with one RBI and Vallejos added her team-best third RBI of the season with a 1-for-3 effort in game two. Jordan finished with a tough luck loss in the first game, tossing 6.0 innings with just one run allowed on seven hits and two walks plus three strikeouts.

CWU, who fell to Chico State in extra innings prior to its matchup with ART U, moved to 1-1 on the year. Leading the Wildcats was Myiah Seaton whose 2-for-2 effort included a RBI, a double, and a stolen base. Following its win over Washburn and ART U, MSUB moves to 4-5 this season thanks in large part to four-RBI performances from Sidney Pollard and Maycen O'Neal.

The Urban Knights will return for the second day of the Desert Stinger tomorrow with matchups against Minot State at 2:30 p.m. MT (1:30 p.m. PT) from Lincoln Park - Field 3 and Northwest Nazarene at 5 p.m. MT (4 p.m. PT) from Lincoln Park - Field 1.