Game #33
ART U Urban Knights (4-28) vs. Saint Martin's Saints (16-10)
Friday, April 1, 2022 at 9 a.m.
Turlock, Calif. – Pedretti Park (Field 2)
Live Stats

Game #34
ART U Urban Knights (4-28) vs. Cal State East Bay Pioneers (16-13)
Friday, April 1, 2022 at 4:30 p.m.
Turlock, Calif. – Pedretti Park (Field 2)
Live Stats

Game #35
ART U Urban Knights (4-28) vs. Simon Fraser (10-13)
Saturday, April 2, 2022 at 9 a.m.
Turlock, Calif. – Pedretti Park (Field 3)

Game #36
ART U Urban Knights (4-28) vs. Western Oregon Wolves (17-16)
Saturday, April 2, 2022 at 4:30 p.m.
Turlock, Calif. – Pedretti Park (Field 1)

Game #37
ART U Urban Knights (4-28) vs. Western Washington Vikings (17-13)
Sunday, April 3, 2022 at 11:30 a.m.
Turlock, Calif. – Warrior Softball Field
Live Video

TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS SEES ART U PLAY FIVE GAMES IN THREE DAYS
Academy of Art softball approaches a busy weekend at the Tournament of Champions with the momentum from a pair of wins over Dominican this past weekend. For complete Tournament of Champions information, click here!

FIRST PITCH
All five games in the Tournament of Champions will take place in Turlock with the first day, Friday, Apr. 1, featuring a 9 a.m. matchup with Saint Martin's and a 4:30 p.m. pairing with Cal State East Bay both at Pedretti Park (Field 2). Saturday, Apr. 2 sees contests at the same times as the first day with ART U meeting Simon Fraser on Pedretti Park (Field 3) before heading to Pedretti Park (Field 1) to take on Western Oregon. The third and final day of action, Sunday, Apr. 3, has just one game on tap with first pitch versus Western Washington set for 11:30 a.m. at Warrior Softball Field. 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
Having upped her current hitting streak to a team-best eight games, sophomore infielder Haley Randall has risen to a tie for 13th in the PacWest with a .330 batting average as well as runs scored (16). With a streak of her own, three consecutive games with a double, senior catcher/infielder Lauryn Henderson checks in at second on the team with both a .289 batting average and 13 runs batted in (13th in PacWest). Her 10 doubles on the year are fourth-most in the conference and she continues to close in on the program's career record in the category with 38, just four from Lauren Stover's 42 in the lead. Henderson also is two home runs from the ART U record, tied for third with 95 RBIs, a one walks from tying for second in program history.

One of three Knights to have homered this season, junior catcher/utility Cassandra Mittman is the most recent to go deep as her three-run blast propelled Academy of Art to one of its wins over Dominican last weekend. She is now hitting .279 with nine RBIs. Sophomore pitcher/infielder Katie Humphreys holds the team lead with 14 RBIs (12th in PacWest) after driving in at least one in five of the squad's last seven doubleheaders. Senior utility Alyssa Rasmussen currently ranks ninth in the PacWest with eight stolen bases (in nine attempts) ahead of junior outfielder Bethany Mitchell's four and both remain tied for the team-lead with 11 walks apiece (eighth in PacWest).

In the circle, the best stretch of the season has come most recently from sophomore pitcher Jolene Rhoades (3-13) who picked up two wins this past week after surrendering just one earned run in 13.0 innings with eight strikeouts in that span. Her 83.2 innings on the year rank ninth in the PacWest and she has dropped her earned run average to 5.77 in the process. Freshman pitcher Julia Jordan (1-8) is tied for ninth in the conference with 42 strikeouts in her 48.1 innings of work.

SAINTS GO MARCHING IN
At 16-10 overall, Saint Martin's has the best win percentage of the five teams Academy of Art will face in the Tournament of Champions. After 11 straight victories had taken the Saints past Northwest (Wash.), Bushnell, and Simon Fraser, SMU split its most recent series with Western Oregon. Maila Pinder has been the team's top hitter with a .383 batting average, four home runs, and 21 RBIs while Abby Runyon (6-4) has the lowest ERA among starters at 3.38. The historical matchup between ART U and Saint Martin's is even at 3-3.

THE PIOS' BIO
Despite starting the season hot at 6-2 and adding a six-game win streak thereafter, Cal State East Bay is 16-13 overall following a 2-7 stretch heading into this week after a split with Cal State Dominguez Hills. Set to face Chaminade prior to the Knights, CSUEB has rode the bat (and legs) of Annelise Garcia who has a .403 batting average, eight extra-base hits, and eight steals. Additionally, Anamaria Beard (8-5) brings a 2.21 ERA plus seven complete games into the tournament. The Pioneers are up 12-6 all-time against Academy of Art.

SIMON SAYS
It has been an up-and-down year for Simon Fraser thus far as the squad was 5-6 before rattling off four consecutive wins (two in eight innings) against Western Oregon. Since that time, SFU has gone 1-7 with a sweep coming at the hands of Saint Martin's and the lone victory versus Central Washington. For a team that will play Cal State Monterey Bay and Holy Names on its first day in Turlock, Simon Fraser has looked to Alex Ogg and her .476 batting average, 23 runs scored, and 15 stolen bases (in 15 attempts) for offense while the team's lowest ERA stands at 6.72 belonging to Anissa Zacharczuk (7-7). Having met in the TOC three times previously, ART U and SFU are relatively even with the latter up 3-2 historically.

CRYING WOLF
Western Oregon, at 17-16 overall, had not won or lost more than three contests in a row prior to a six-game losing streak that began against Simon Fraser. Since that time, WOU has gone 4-2 while splitting its second series with Saint Martin's prior to TOC where the Wolves will face Dominican, CSUMB, and Concordia before ART U. Logan Carlos is the team's top hitter with a .422 batting average and 30 RBIs and Reilly Tidwell (3-3) brings a 3.03 ERA to pace a solid trio of pitchers. A limited history favors Western Oregon 3-1 over Academy of Art.

VIKINGS' COLLISION COURSE
Opening the year at 2-8, Western Washington with two separate six-game win streaks book-ending just two losses to Northwest Nazarene. A sweep of Montana State Billings brings the Vikings into its matchups with Cal Poly Humboldt, Biola, Sonoma State, and Holy Names prior to closing the Tournament of Champions against ART U. Leading WWU in both batting average (.396) and runs scored (23), Tatum Dow also shares the most doubles on the squad (10) while Sydney Brown (5-2) offers a 2.30 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 48.2 innings of work. Though the Knights won the most recent meeting with Western Washington back in 2018, the Vikings are up 5-2 all-time.

FIFTH-INNING RALLIES HELP SPELL SWEEP FOR ACADEMY OF ART
Using game-changing rallies in each fifth inning, Academy of Art softball emerged victorious on both sides of a Mar. 27 Pacific West Conference doubleheader rematch with Dominican at Mission Blue Field. Game one saw run-scoring doubles from junior outfielder Bethany Mitchell and senior catcher/infielder Lauryn Henderson put ART U ahead before senior catcher Alyssa Brundage's sacrifice fly in the sixth proved critical to a 4-3 win. Then, junior catcher/utility Cassandra Mittman broke a 1-1 game two tie with a three-run homer as the Urban Knights triumphed 5-1 and swept the day.

ON THE HORIZON
Following a week off from competition, Academy of Art will venture to Hawaii for its next 12 games which include series with UH Hilo (Apr. 11-12), Hawaii Pacific (Apr. 15-16), and Chaminade (Apr. 18-19).