Games #22 & 23
ART U Urban Knights (7-14, 3-9 PacWest) vs. Dominican Penguins (14-12, 8-8 PacWest)
Saturday, March 16, 2024 at Noon & 2:30 p.m.
San Rafael, Calif. – Penguin Field
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PACWEST ACTION PAIRS KNIGHTS AND PENGUINS
Playing its first road games since Feb. 14, Academy of Art softball challenges its local Pacific West Conference rival Dominican this weekend for the teams' inaugural meeting in 2024.

FIRST PITCH
In its lone game day of the week, ART U travels to Penguin Field in San Rafael for a noon doubleheader hosted by Dominican. 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
Still second in the PacWest in both triples (4) and stolen bases (27), Academy of Art's offense has been supported particularly by a quartet all batting over .310. Senior infielder Katie Humphreys had four multi-hit performances in a recent six-game hitting streak to bring her to a team-high .344 average (11th in PacWest) while junior utility Alexis Folks also checks in among the conference's top 20 with a .323 clip. Driving in at least two runs in each of the Urban Knights' last three PacWest series, sophomore infielder Audrey Allen offers a .313 batting average (21st in PacWest) along with team-highs of six doubles (first in PacWest), two home runs (eighth in PacWest), and 15 runs batted in (fourth in PacWest). More often than not she has been driving in senior infielder Haley Randall, who is hitting .311 (23rd in PacWest) with 10 RBIs (11th in PacWest) and nine runs scored, senior outfielder Cailee Grayhorse-Pupecki, or freshman outfielder Lida Wos, who shares the team-lead of 11 runs scored (ninth in PacWest) with Grayhorse-Pupecki. Wos is still a perfect 9-for-9 in stolen bases and ranks second in the conference in that category.

Defensively, Academy of Art has rotated six starts apiece between freshman Alyssa Fullmer (3-3), Kayla Vaughan (3-5), and sophomore Kamielle Powell (1-3). Fullmer's 4.23 earned run average paces the squad while Vaughan's 47.0 innings pitched (seventh in PacWest) and 34 strikeouts (fifth in PacWest and first among non-seniors/grad students) lead in their respective categories.

DOMINICAN DUALITY
In what has been an up-and-down year thus far, Dominican took a four-game win streak into conference play but began by being swept at Concordia's hand. After the Penguins won seven of their first eight games in Hawaii, the trip concluded with Chaminade going 3-1 versus DUC. A split with Cal Poly Humboldt earlier this week brings Dominican a 14-12 and even 8-8 PacWest record into this weekend's matchup hosting ART U. The Penguins' 41 stolen bases and 196 runs scored are each first in the conference while their 26 doubles and four triples are both second, but the Penguins have also played five more games than any other PacWest team thus far. Tiare Guerrero is first in the conference in runs scored (18) as well as stolen bases (12) with the fifth-highest batting average (.370) and the dual-threat that is Shelby Keltner sees her with an 8-6 record, 2.67 ERA (11th in PacWest), and 80 strikeouts (first in PacWest) as a pitcher in addition to a .353 batting average (eighth in PacWest) and 13 RBIs (eighth in PacWest) as a hitter. The long and storied rivalry between the Knights and Penguins remains firmly on the Academy of Art side 40-24.

COUGARS COMPLETE COMEBACK, CLAIM SERIES AT ACADEMY OF ART
After seeing Azusa Pacific suddenly shift momentum in the finish to its previously halted game with Azusa Pacific, Academy of Art softball could not overcome the Cougars' offense in the final two parts to the week's Pacific West Conference series out at Chabot College. A grand slam in the sixth inning propelled APU to a 6-4 win to begin Mar. 8 then a 10-3 win was followed by a 12-1 result that completed the sweep for the visitors.

ON THE HORIZON
Departing conference play for its next five games, Academy of Art will make its annual trip to Turlock for Stanislaus State's Tournament of Champions where matchups with Western Washington and Chico State await on Mar. 22 followed by Cal State San Bernardino and Cal State Dominguez Hills on Mar. 23 and finally Sonoma State on Mar. 24.