Brisbane, CA – The Academy of Art University's softball team caught a break in the rainy weather and was able to host BYU-Hawaii in a double header on Monday night. The Knights were able to keep their strong pitching and solid defense in the driver's seat during the games, but it was the women's offense that struggled on the day. ART U was able to capitalize on their runners in game one and came away with a 2-0 victory. In game two, the Urban Knights were unable to benefit from any offensive opportunities, and fell short with a final score of 3-1.

The Urban Knights got things going right away in the first game. They came out attacking and were able to score first in the bottom of the first inning. Freshman Elyse Cordova singled to short stop, and was bunted over to second by freshman Lauren Stover. With two outs, and a runner in scoring position, sophomore Jayme Stewart hit a deep fly ball over the center fielder's head that just missed the fence by inches. Stewart's double scored Cordova from second, and the Knights took an early one run lead.

Both team's pitching then went to work, and kept their opponents off-balance for the remainder of the game. The Urban Knights however, were able to push across one more run in the bottom of the fifth inning. Sophomore Julie Martin led the inning off with a single, and advanced to second the next batter. She then proceeded to steal third. Cordova then flew out to left field, which scored Martin from third. ART U had a two run lead heading into the later innings of the game.

ART U's pitcher, junior Sierrah Garcia, ended up not needing the extra buffer run. She threw a great game, and seemed to get stronger as the game got later. She shut-out her Seasider's opponents and led her team to the 2-0 victory.

Garcia received the win in the game going all seven innings pitched. She gave up no hits, and walked just one batter, while recording 11 strikeouts in the game.

Cordova had a great game offensively for the Knights going 2-2 with one run scored, and one run batted in. Sophomore Alyssa Hickey also did well going 3-2. Martin stood out going 1-2 with one run scored, and a stolen base, and Stewart rounded things out going 1-2 with a double, and one run batted in.

For the Seasiders, only two batters managed to reach base in the game. Athena Salinas reached on a hit by pitch, while Gabrielle Hawkins reached on a walk. Receiving the loss was Shiri Stevens who went six innings pitched giving up six hits, two runs, and had two strikeouts.

The Urban Knights scored two runs on six hits, had no errors, and left five runners on base.

Game two proved to be very different for the Knights from the get go. ART U came out flat, and BYU Hawaii quickly took advantage. Acting as the home team in the game per PacWest rules, the Seasiders struck first when they score one run in the bottom of the first inning. They then tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the second to take an early three run lead.

The Urban Knights answered back in the top of the third inning which looked like the start of a turn-around. With one out sophomore Julie Martin drew a walk. Senior Alana Aweau then doubled to deep left-center field, scoring Martin from first. However, that would end up being the only run the Knights would be able to muster that inning.

Again things turned into a pitching duel for the remainder of the game. Neither team was able to make adjustments in the batter's box through four more innings of play. ART U had chances with runners on base in multiple situations, but they were unable to capitalize on any of them, and failed to bring in any more runs of their own in the game. After a long seven innings, the Knights fell with a final score of 1-3.

Junior Sierrah Garcia was again on the mound for ART U. She did well going all six innings pitched. Garcia allowed six hits, three runs, and had seven strikeouts in the game.

Leading the Knights offensively was Aweau who had a great game going 2-3 with a double, and one run batted in. Garcia had a good offensive game going 1-2, and Martin scored one run in the game.

For the Seasiders, Noelle Lake did well going 2-3 with a double, and one run batted in, and Ashley Parry and Mindy Rasmussen both went 1-3 with one run scored in the game. Receiving the win was Gabrielle Hawkins who went all seven innings pitched allowing just three hits, one earned run, and posted nine strikeouts.

The Urban Knights scored one run on three hits, committed one error, and left four runners on base.

After the split, the Academy of Art University's record is at 13-7 overall, and 5-1 in conference, while BYU Hawaii's record is at 5-21 overall, and 3-11 in conference. The Urban Knights play next on Friday, March 25^th when they host Hawaii-Hilo. Game times are set for 11:00am and 1:00pm at Mission Blue Field.