Games #13 & 14
ART U Urban Knights (3-9) vs. SF State Gators (5-10)
Thursday, March 2, 2023 at Noon & 2 p.m.
San Francisco – SFSU Softball Field
Live Stats | Live Video

Games #15 & 16
ART U Urban Knights (3-9, 0-0 PacWest) vs. Dominican Penguins (3-6, 0-0 PacWest)
Tuesday, March 7, 2023 at Noon & 2:30 p.m.
San Rafael, Calif. – Penguin Field
Live Stats

ACADEMY OF ART READY TO RETURN AFTER EXTENDED TIME OFF
With weather causing schedule changes and a 12-day stretch without games, Academy of Art softball this week looks to pick up from its sweep of Menlo as the Urban Knights face SF State in non-conference action ahead of their first Pacific West Conference series at Dominican early next week.

FIRST PITCH
Two noon doubleheaders are on tap for ART U this week, beginning locally at SF State on Thursday, Mar. 2 then in San Rafael at Penguin Field to face Dominican on Tuesday, Mar. 7. 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
Currently hitting .260 as a team to rank fourth in the PacWest, Academy of Art is led by a trio inside the conference's top 14 in junior outfielder Maddie Sticka (.368), junior infielder Haley Randall (.344), and freshman infielder Audrey Allen (.342), who is one week removed from being named PacWest Player of the Week. Sticka has reached base in five straight contests while Randall's four stolen bases rank fourth in the PacWest, her 10 runs scored are sixth, and she carries a three-game hit streak along with Allen and junior outfielder Cailee Grayhorse-Pupecki. Along with five doubles (fourth-most in the conference), senior outfielder Bethany Mitchell adds a team-high seven runs batted in (12th in PacWest), one more than junior infielder Katie Humphreys' six driven in.

After picking up both wins over Menlo, freshman pitcher Kamielle Powell is now 3-5 on the year (fifth in PacWest in wins) with 20 strikeouts (ninth in PacWest) through her career's first 40.1 innings (eighth in PacWest) while logging a 3.12 earned run average (11th in PacWest).

THE SF STATE-MENT
A hot start for the Gators saw them win five of their first six games, but nine consecutive losses (four versus nationally-ranked teams) take SF State into its matchup with ART U on Thursday. The only Gator swinging for a batting average above .300 is Kai DeLeon whose .325 clip comes with team-highs of seven runs scored and four stolen bases. Defensively, most of the pitching load has been handled by Kaitlyn Maddux (3-3) and Brooklyn Heffernan (1-5) who have combined to toss 64.1 innings with 3.25 and 3.72 ERAs as well as 29 strikeouts apiece. Though SF State has had the edge of late, the two teams' all-time series has the Gators up a narrow 12-11.

THE PENGUIN FILE
Dominican opened 2022-23 an even 2-2, but after four straight defeats thereafter, triumphed 9-7 over Cal State East Bay most recently as the Penguins have dealt with the same wet weather. Celeste Salas offers the team's highest batting average (.294), adding two doubles and two runs scored, while Lauren Lapinid paces DU with four runs batted in. Despite a 2-5 record, Shelby Keltner's 1.27 ERA ranks fourth in the PacWest among pitchers with four or more starts and her 55 strikeouts in 44.0 innings of work are first overall. Academy of Art is one victory away from 40 historically versus Dominican, leading the historical matchup 39-21.

SOFTBALL SWEEPS MENLO IN RETURN TO MISSION BLUE FIELD
In just the team's second time competing at home this season, Academy of Art softball rallied for multiple runs in nearly half of its 12 innings to achieve a sweep of Menlo on Feb. 17 at Mission Blue Field. Consistent offense elevated the Urban Knights to a 7-0 lead through the day's first three frames while freshman pitcher Kamielle Powell (3-5) shut down the Oaks' bats for an eventual 9-1 win in six innings. Menlo led early in the second contest, but ART U produced four runs as the sun began to set on a 5-2 victory.

ON THE HORIZON
**The final week of February will see ART U travel to Southern California for a four-part series with Azusa Pacific spanning Feb. 24-25 and opening PacWest play.