Box Score #1
Box Score #2

Laie, HI – It was a memorable end to Academy of Art University's longest trip through Hawaii Saturday as the Urban Knights defeated BYU-Hawaii on both ends of a doubleheader out at BYUH Softball Field. ART U scored early and often en route to its 10-2 mercy rule victory through six innings of game one then used some small ball to win the second contest 3-0 which featured freshman Haily MacDonald's second career shutout. Both junior Kimberly Dauer and MacDonald earned complete game victories in the circle while ART U's 13-hit barrage in the day's opener saw contributions up and down the lineup.

“I think we have a lot of different tools and great things about this team,” head coach Rachel Sherman. “With so many games, we saw all aspects including huge offense, lots of speed, solid defense, and solid pitching.”

The Urban Knights (14-21, 10-10 PacWest) wasted little time in taking control of game one. A double by sophomore infielder Lauren Stover to extend her hit streak to 10 games set the table for junior infielder Andrea Hanchey who crushed a home run over the right field fence, giving ART U a 2-0 lead in the first inning.

“Dre's home run was good to see,” Coach Sherman said. “Not only did she go opposite field for power, but she also did some little things we talked about. That hit was great for her confidence moving forward.”

After Dauer (9-8) retired the quickly retired the side with a pair of strikeouts in the opening inning, the Academy of Art offense rolled right into the second inning as the first five batters reached base. Freshman infielder Taylor Thurman got things started with a single followed by junior catcher Jayme Stewart's RBI double down the left field line. MacDonald singled and senior outfielder Melissa Coe took first on an error which scored Stewart. The Knights then executed a double steal with MacDonald swiping home plate before senior outfielder Ashley Lokey drove in Coe on an RBI single. When the dust had settled after two innings of play, ART U held a commanding 6-0 advantage.

“After yesterday's games, we talked about scoring early and putting up lots of runs before the fifth inning so I was very happy to see us do that in game one,” Coach Sherman said. “We also talked about not letting up. Every team in our conference has the ability to come back so we can never settle early.”

As Coach Sherman anticipated, BYU-Hawaii (10-12, 5-11 PacWest) did not give in so easily and the Seasiders soon responded by scoring two in the third on a double from Lindsay Robison. The teams would exchange a scoreless fourth before Academy of Art continued its offensive surge. An infield error allowed Hanchey to reach to start the fifth then senior infielder Genna Allen doubled her teammate home. Thurman brought in Allen on an RBI single through the left side, effectively knocking out BYUH's starting pitcher Tiffanee Frampton (6-5) and giving ART U an 8-2 lead.

The final frame ended up coming in the sixth when another fielding error put Hanchey at first and Allen launched her team-high seventh homer to left. Defensively, Dauer was simply dominant as she struck out a pair of Seasiders in each of her final three innings to give her nine in an impressive encore to her 10 strikeouts in 10.0 innings on Friday. The Knights' eight-run margin of 10-2 was enough to give them the win in a shortened game one.


Freshman starter Haily MacDonald (4-5) was the epitome of perseverance in the series finale. Faced with runners threatening to score in each of the first five innings, MacDonald continued to pitch her way through adversity. Beginning in the first, a pair of BYUH hits put two on, but the freshman got a groundout to stop the scoring chance. Facing the bases loaded in the second, MacDonald again induced a grounder this time into her own glove and exited with a scoreboard still scoreless.

Though Thurman's first triple of her ART U career came in the second, it was not until the third when Academy of Art finally broke through against Seasider starter Gabrielle Hawkins (4-7). Lokey hit a leadoff double and later, with runners on second and third, junior outfielder Julie Martin laid down a bunt to score Lokey. A Hanchey groundout plated one more to put the Knights in front 2-0 at that point.

After getting groundouts to leave the third and fourth innings unscathed, MacDonald was given an additional run of support in the fourth when an RBI double by Lokey made it 3-0 ART U. The Seasiders continued to threaten and even brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh, but MacDonald got one final lineout to finish off her second career shutout as Academy of Art prevailed 3-0.

Starting off the day with a line of two runs allowed on five hits and nine strikeouts in 6.0 innings pitched, Dauer continued to limit her opponents. The junior wound up surrendering just five earned runs in her last 29.0 innings thrown on the Hawaiian Islands with 27 strikeouts in that span. MacDonald logged the complete game shutout by going 7.0 innings, giving up 10 hits, and striking out two.

“Twelve games in 12 days is tough on a pitching staff,” Coach Sherman said. “I'm proud of Kim and Haily finishing strong and pushing through the week to get us two wins to end the trip.”

Academy of Art, who ended up going 7-5 in Hawaii, had several key offensive performances on the final day of its roadtrip. Five Urban Knights posted multi-hit games to start the day including Allen's 2-for-4 outing which included a home run, a double, three RBIs, and two runs scored. Hanchey also homered in that game and finished 1-for-4 with two RBIs and three runs scored. Lokey and Stover were solid at the top of the lineup, combining to go 6-for-12 on the day with three doubles, two RBIs, three runs scored, and a stolen base despite the end to Stover's second 10-game hit streak of the year in game two.

“Offensively we are starting to really get rolling and building our confidence going into some tough games so I'm happy with what we did with our at-bats this trip,” Coach Sherman said.

Thurman and MacDonald each went 2-for-3 with a run scored in game one while Thurman added a triple in her 1-for-2 game two. Stewart hit her sixth double of the year with a 1-for-4 game one which included an RBI and a run scored. Coe swiped a pair of bases in the opener while Martin, now the owner of a five-game hit streak, had a hit in each contest and drove in one in the series finale.

Robison was the only BYU-Hawaii player to post multi-hit games in both sides of the doubleheader and finished 4-for-7 with the team's only two RBIs and a double. Frampton took the loss in game one after allowing eight runs (six earned) on 11 hits with two strikeouts through 4.0 innings. Hawkins then was defeated in the second contest despite not allowing an earned run to score (she surrendered three unearned runs) on five hits in 6.0 innings.

With the completion of its Hawaii roadtrip, Academy of Art University now has a week and half without a game before Holy Names comes to town for a non-conference doubleheader on Apr. 4 back at Mission Blue Field in Brisbane, CA. The first pitch of game one is scheduled for 12:00 PM.