Box Score Game 1
Box Score Game 2
Brisbane, CA – On a sunny Friday afternoon, Academy of Art University's softball team hosted NAIA members Oregon Institute of Technology. The Urban Knights came out flat and it quickly showed. ART U's pitching did their job, but with little run support and defense to back it up, the Knights could not overcome their opponents. At the end of the day, the Knights fell twice to the Owls, losing the first game with a score of 6-1, before falling in the second game 10-3. This was the first time ART U has lost two consecutive games since February 11th.
Game one began with a short pitching duel. Both teams were caught off balance offensively through the first two innings. But OIT managed to score two runs in the top of the third to take an early lead. The Owls were able to capitalize on the Urban Knights' errors when they added three runs in the fifth, and one final run in the sixth.
ART U's bats were kept quiet for the majority of the game, as they were unable to string any hits together, or score any of their base runners. Finally in the bottom of the seventh inning, sophomore Jayme Stewart hit a solo shot home-run over the center field fence to get her team on the board. But the Knights were unable to muster any more runs in the game and fell with a final score of 1-6.
Stewart led the Knights offensively going 2-3 with a home run, one run scored, and one run batted in on the day. Senior Alana Aweau, and sophomore Andrea Hanchey both contributed a hit in the game going 1-3.
Junior ace Sierrah Garcia received the loss in the game. She went five innings pitched giving up four hits, only one earned run, and posted five strikeouts. Freshman Katie Brooks came in for relief and went two innings pitched allowing three hits, one run (zero earned), and had one strikeout.
For the Owls, Brittany Cherry led things going 2-3 with a home run, one run, and one run batted in, and Jess Plummer also did well going 2-4 with a double and three RBI. Three other OIT batters record a hit in the game, and four additional players scored in it. Receiving the win was Jackie Imhof who went all seven innings pitched giving up four hits, one earned run, and posted 13 strikeouts.
The Urban Knights scored one run on four hits, and committed three errors in the game.
Game two looked as if it was going to be much different for the Urban Knights. The team came out attacking, scoring one run in the bottom of the first inning. But the Owls answered right back with a run of their own in the top of the next inning. However, the Knights wasted little time getting the momentum back when they pushed across another run in the bottom of the second the re-gain the lead. But again the Owls came right back in the top of the fourth to tie the game at two.
Errors proved costly for the Urban Knights again, just as they had in game one. OIT was able to capitalize on those errors scoring twice in the fourth, then adding three more runs in the fifth, and three additional in the seventh. ART U would only be able to muster one more run of their own in the bottom of the fifth, and would be unable to take advantage of their base runners. After stranding nine runners in the game, ART U would fall to the Owls with a final score of 3-10.
Freshman Elyse Cordova led the offensive charge for the Knights. She went 2-3 in the game with two runs scored. Freshman Lauren Clark-Lewis also did well going 1-3 with one run scored and one stolen base, while junior Genna Allen, and sophomore Jayme Stewart finished going 1-3 in the game.
Sophomore Kim Dauer started the game in the circle for ART U and received the loss. She went 5.2 innings pitched giving up nine hits, just two earned runs, and posted seven strikeouts. Freshman Katie Brooks came in for relief and went 1.1 innings allowing three hits, no earned runs, and had one strikeout.
Ashleigh Larson led the Owls going 3-4 with a double, one run, and three RBI. Jess Plummer went 3-5 with three RBI, and Bree Larson rounded things out going 2-3 with one run, and one run batted in. Eight of the nine Owl's batters recorded a run in the game. Receiving the win was Taylor Schmidt who went 4.1 innings pitched allowing five hits, two earned runs, and had four strikeouts.
The Urban Knights scored three runs on eight hits, and had five errors in the game.
After the day, the Academy of Art University's record falls to 10-6 overall, while Oregon Institute of Technology's record improves to 14-5 overall. The Urban Knights play next tomorrow, March 12th when they host Dominican University. The day will also be ART U's annual, “Swing for a Cause.” Game times are scheduled for 12:00 and 2:00 pm.
