Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Las Vegas, NV – On day two of the 2013 Desert Stinger, the Urban Knights found themselves in two very different softball games Saturday afternoon. Exploding for eight runs in the second inning against Black Hills State, Academy of Art easily finished off an 11-2 mercy victory to start the day. In the nightcap, ART U fought through a see-saw matchup with Western New Mexico, but assisted by the international tie-breaker rule and a double, the Mustangs came away with the 7-6 win in eight innings.

“We are self-proclaimed fighters,” co-head coach Sami Strinz said. “That is the personality of this team. Our goal is to fight pitch by pitch and we did a pretty good job of that.”

Although the first inning against Black Hills State was scoreless it saw ART U load the bases highlighted by a double from junior Lauren Stover. Academy of Art did not convert, but they certainly made up for it in the second.  The bases were loaded on walks and a fielding error before Stover delivered a two-run single and then freshman Shelby Gill and junior Taylor Thurman each added RBI singles. Sophomore Kamyle Glover got in on the act with an RBI of her own and by the end, it was an 8-0 advantage for the Knights.

“Another tremendous team effort earned us that eight-run inning,” Coach Strinz said. “We had timely hitting and forced BHSU into some mistakes by continuing to apply pressure.”

In the third, ART U added to its lead with singles from sophomore Haily MacDonald and junior Elyse Cordova to start it off. Shelby Gill got one of her teammates in with a fielder's choice then later with the bases juiced, Thurman was hit by a pitch and Glover again brought one home on a fielder's choice. Now it was an 11-0 margin for the Knights as a five-inning affair seemed within reach.

Senior Kimberly Dauer (1-3) continued to post scoreless innings and, though two came in for BHSU in the fourth, she would still collect her first win of the season in what would be a shortened first game this day. Her ending line was 3.1 innings pitched with two runs allowed and four strikeouts. Sophomore Kristin Valdivia added 1.2 scoreless innings of work.

“We were proud of the fight we had in the first game,” co-head coach Randy Ward said. “The challenge is to keep focused on defense and not get comfortable with a large lead. We did let up the focus for a couple of runs, but we responded the way we should have and stopped the big inning.”


Paired against Western New Mexico, Academy of Art continued its offensive exhibition by getting three runs home in the opening inning. A few wild pitches from the WNMU allowed MacDonald and Cordova to score before Thurman knocked in Stover on a RBI single.

Over the next two innings, however, the Mustangs managed to retie the game 3-3 thanks in large part to a two-run single from Aimee Vasquez. Knotted up until the bottom of the fifth inning, it was ART U that broke through on the RBI for Thurman who had stepped in with runners on the corners. Senior Andrea Hanchey later added a sacrifice fly to give her squad the 5-3 advantage.

The subsequent top of the sixth saw WNMU gain both runs back despite the absence of a hit. Walks and an error made it 5-5 yet the Mustangs left the bases loaded. Western New Mexico went ahead briefly in the seventh on a Kale Gahn RBI double, but Hanchey offered clutch hitting following another Thurman single to bring home pinch runner Jasmine Dickenson for the equalizer.

Per tournament designation, the game then began the employment of the international tie-breaker rule as things moved into the eighth inning. After automatically having a runner placed at second base to start the inning, Mariah McDonald had what would end up being the game-winning double to give her team a 7-6 lead. Though the Knights were given the same scenario with a runner in scoring position in the bottom of the seventh, a 1-2-3 inning ended the battle.

Offensively for ART U Softball (2-6 overall), Thurman finished the day a perfect 4-for-4 with four RBIs and a run scored. Stover was 2-for-3 in the opening game with two RBIs, two runs scored and the second double of her 2013 season. At the top of the lineup, MacDonald and Cordova each had hits in both games finishing with a day's final line of 4-for-7 and 2-for-7 while combining for six runs scored with an RBI and two walks.

Wielding some timely bats, Shelby Gill added a 1-for-2 game one performance that included two RBIs and a run scored while Hanchey was 2-for-3 with two RBIs in the second game. Glover had two RBIs in and a run scored in the first game as well.

The Urban Knights play one final contest as part of the 2013 Desert Stinger Tournament tomorrow. ART U matches up with New Mexico Highlands for a 2:00 PM first pitch.