TURLOCK, Calif. – Starting off its ninth appearance in the Tournament of Champions, presented by the City of Turlock, Academy of Art softball was dealt two tough losses as Western Washington topped the Urban Knights 14-0 in the opener before Western Oregon secured an 8-0 victory in the nightcap on Friday.

GAME 1 – WWU 14, ART U 0 (5)
The Urban Knights began the day by putting two runners on via walks in the first inning, but the Vikings were able to dodge the scoring threat and instead put the contest's initial run on the board with two singles in their half of the frame.

A nine-run rally in the second was followed by four in the third as the score became 14-0 and, though ART U got singles from senior outfielder Bethany Mitchell and junior infielder Haley Randall in the fifth, the runners were left stranded as the game concluded.

GAME 2 – WOU 8, ART U 0
Two hits and an error led to a 1-0 lead for Western Oregon in the opening inning of the Knights' second game on Friday, but senior pitcher Haley Arnold-Jolley (2-14) retired the Wolves in order in the frame that followed.

WOU doubled its margin with a single, a double, and a groundout in the third, but again Arnold-Jolley and the ART U defense kept the Western Oregon offense at bay in the fourth. Two more unearned runs were plated in the fifth as the difference became 4-0 and scores in the final three innings ultimately made the final 8-0 in favor of the Wolves.

ART U shifts to 6-28 overall this season after Randall and Mitchell went 1-for-2 and 1-for-3 respectively in the first game before senior catcher/utility Cassandra Mittman and junior infielder Katie Humphreys had those same results in the second contest. Arnold-Jolley gave up just one earned run on six hits with one walk in her 5.0 innings.

WWU improved to 15-14 with the win as Brooke Fesenbek finished with four runs batted in, two runs scored, and a double in her 2-for-3 effort while Joie Baker (2-0) picked up the win, not allowing a run on two hits and three walks with two strikeouts.

Now at 16-17, WOU primarily rode the offense of Chelby Smalley, who was 4-for-4 with three runs batted in, two runs scored, a double, and a steal, as well as the defense of Maddie Mayer (9-7), who did not surrender a run, gave up two hits, and struck out seven.

As the Tournament of Champions continues on Saturday, the Urban Knights return to Pedretti Park's Field 1 for another 11:30 a.m. matchup with Central Washington then a 4:30 p.m. pairing with Simon Fraser at Pedretti Park's Field 2.