SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Competing in its first two Pacific West Conference games since Mar. 8, Academy of Art softball could not overcome multi-run rallies by Dominican at Penguin Field on Sunday. Three scores in the fourth inning of game one ended up being the difference in a 3-0 final then an early push by the Penguins turned the second contest in their favor and ended 9-1 in six frames.

GAME 1 – DU 3, ART U 0
After junior pitcher Haley Arnold-Jolley (0-6) limited the Penguins to singular hits in the first two innings, Academy of Art put together an early opportunity to score when sophomore infielder Haley Randall and senior utility Alyssa Rasmussen singled on back-to-back pitches in the third. A flyout ended the chance, but Arnold-Jolley continued to roll with her seventh consecutive Penguin retired to start the fourth.

That frame unfortunately proceeded with a fielding error and two hits, the second of which was a two-run double. One more double in the inning put Dominican up 3-0 and, despite junior outfielder reaching third on a walk, sacrifice bunt, and stolen base, the fifth concluded on a strikeout. Unable to score in the final two innings, ART U dropped the contest to the Penguins 3-0.

GAME 2 – DU 9, ART U 1 (6)
The Dominican offense started the day's finale hot with a three-run homer following a double and a single in the bottom of the first inning. Academy of Art would get freshman utility Elle Edeker to third base after her leadoff single in the second, but she was stranded. The Knights once again nearly converted with Randall's one-out double in the third, however, the game became 5-0 when the Penguins added three more hits in their half of the inning.

In the fourth, Edeker's second single of the contest started a string of three consecutive singles as senior catcher Alyssa Brundage followed and the first pitch seen by freshman infielder Carina Sanchez brought home a run to make it 5-1. Dominican continued to rally thereafter, going up 8-1 in the fourth and, despite being kept off the scoreboard in the fifth, using a solo homer in the sixth to win 9-1.
 
Academy of Art, now 2-26 overall and 1-9 in PacWest play, was led by Edeker's 2-for-2 game two effort that included a run scored while Randall and Brundage both added hits in each contest. Arnold-Jolley logged her second consecutive complete game with just one earned run allowed on six hits and one walk plus one strikeout in 6.0 innings pitched. The run batted in for Sanchez was her second of the season.

Rising to 11-20 overall and 9-13 in conference action, Dominican saw Alicia Garcia go 6-for-7 with two homers and seven RBIs while Shelby Keltner (7-11) earned the four-hit shutout win with 13 strikeouts in the first game. Kathryn Caravalho (3-5) picked up the victory in the finale, allowing one run on six hits while striking out three.

The Urban Knights will next meet Holy Names for the first time in 2022 on Mar. 25 at Chabot College in Hayward.