BRISBANE, Calif. – Saturday's conclusion to the first Pacific West Conference series for Academy of Art softball began with a rollercoaster of emotion in the opening contest. After the Urban Knights rallied back to tie the score with three runs in the bottom of the seventh, a grand slam in the ninth pushed Dominican to win 9-5 then the Penguins carried that momentum into a 6-0 victory in the series finale.
GAME 1 – DU 9, ART U 5 (9)
Similarly to the first game on Feb. 28, junior pitcher
Kamielle Powell (2-6) provided multiple scoreless innings to start before DU managed a 4-0 lead heading into the bottom of the fourth where ART U promptly halved that margin on the first home run for senior catcher/infielder
Liberty Herrera in an Academy of Art uniform following a double by senior utility
Alexis Folks.
The two-run shot to left kept the score at 4-2 until an unearned run came home in the sixth. Powell retired the side on 13 pitches in the top of the seventh, setting up a must-score situation for the Knights who did not disappoint. Singles by sophomore pitcher/utility
Kayla Vaughan and sophomore outfielder
Lida Wos allowed sophomore outfielder
Ari Mallari to plate both with a single and an error then freshman infielder/outfielder
Riannah Maulupe tied things up 5-5 on a groundout.
Powell pitched out of a Penguins threat in the eighth, but the visitors put together a rally in the ninth that culminated in a grand slam for what would eventually end at a 9-5 final score. Powell wrapped up a career-high 8.1 innings pitched with just three earned runs allowed and three strikeouts.
GAME 2 – DU 6, ART U 0
A sacrifice fly in the first inning of the fourth and final game of the series helped put Dominican up 1-0 through the first two frames. In the third, the Penguins benefitted from a two-run double and another sac fly in the fifth made it 4-0.
The Knights' best opportunity to come back came with two on in the sixth, but after DU dodged the danger, two more hits in the seventh furthered their winning margin to 6-0.
Academy of Art emerges from its first conference matchup 1-3 as part of a 2-15 overall record. Herrera ended the first contest 1-for-4 with two runs batted in on her homer, Wos pushed her hit streak to four games with a 4-for-7 day that included a double, and Maulupe joined Folks in the only other two Knights with hits in each contest as the former went 3-for-7 with one run batted in and the latter doubled as part of her 2-for-7 afternoon.
Sporting an overall record of 13-9 and 5-3 in conference, Dominican was guided by a combined seven runs batted in from Leslie Ruiz and Annabelle Burke in the first contest, which Hannah Escalante (2-2) won with 5.0 relief innings, then five combined RBIs from Alyssa Rue and Taylor Rodriguez (6-0), the latter of whom tossed a three-hit complete game shutout.
The Knights now move on to their second PacWest series of the year, traveling to La Mirada for a pair of noon doubleheaders versus Biola on Mar. 7-8.
