Games #11 & 12
ART U Urban Knights (3-7) vs. Cal State Monterey Bay Otters (9-4)
Wednesday, March 5, 2014 at 12:00 PM
Seaside, CA – Otters Sports Complex
Live Stats

VENUE CHANGE SETS UP LENGTHY ROAD STRETCH
After rain caused the postponement of a PacWest doubleheader with Dominican over the weekend, unplayable field conditions held through the early part of this week causing Academy of Art University to relocate its doubleheader with Cal State Monterey Bay to Seaside this Wednesday. Not having played in a week and a half, the Urban Knights come into this week well rested and with next week's Hawaii roadtrip on the horizon.

FIRST PITCH
ART U heads to the Otters Sports Complex in Seaside, CA for its 12:00 PM doubleheader with Cal State Monterey Bay this Wednesday, Mar. 5. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights on Twitter & Instagram and "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

KNIGHT WATCH
Now a total of 10 games into the season, the Urban Knights have four players batting over .300 led by Kamyle Glover at .385 (10-for-26). She leads the team with three doubles, has the only triple, and offers five RBIs as well. A hot week added over 100 points to Taylor Thurman's batting average, bringing her up to .357 with two doubles and a team-high seven RBIs. Elyse Cordova had ridden a 13-game hit streak (including the end of last season) which unfortunately came to an end in the first contest against Central Washington. However, she has a .353 batting average on the year and has scored a team-best eight times. Elise Oldham has also been on a tear of late, belting her second home run of the year at Notre Dame de Namur. She now holds a five-game hitting streak in which she has three times gone for extra bases.

In the pitchers' circle, Alexa Peters (0-1) leads the team with a 4.80 ERA in four appearances. Starters Jill Johnson (2-3) and Carlee Emerson (1-2) each picked up wins this past week and have combined for 24 strikeouts in 53.0 innings pitched.

OBSERVING THE OTTERS
After starting the season with four straight wins as part of the Best of the West Invitational, Cal State Monterey Bay had their first loss, an 8-0 defeat at the hands of Cal State San Marcos, come on Feb. 2. Since that time, CSUMB has opened CCAA play with two four-game series with Sonoma State and #1 Humboldt State, two teams with whom ART U is familiar. The Otters fell 4-3 to start the Seawolves series, but bounced back to win three consecutive, scoring six or more runs in each contest. Up against the top team in the country, Monterey Bay rallied in the middle innings for a 3-2 win, fell twice 6-1 and 2-1, then came back for a 4-0 shutout in the finale. Offensively, the team is led by Bianca Noreiga who is hitting .405 with a home run and six RBIs. She adds six doubles to her line for a .619 slugging percentage. Cori Reinhard matches her teammates RBI total (9) and is hitting .390. In the circle, Lindsey Clarkson is 5-1 on the year through 10 appearances, sporting a 2.62 ERA and 33 strikeouts in 37 innings of work. It has not been since February of 2010 that the Otters and Urban Knights have met, at which point they split a doubleheader.

OFFENSE ERUPTS FOR SECOND STRAIGHT DAY IN SPLIT
Less than 24 hours after a 10-run, 16-hit game two to start Pacific West Conference play, ART U Softball bettered both in a split with Central Washington out at Mission Blue Field on Feb. 23. Though the Wildcats took the first game 8-0 in five innings, the Urban Knights responded by scoring in five of six innings and ultimately using 17 hits to score 12 runs in a 12-10 dogfight with their opponents from the north. The teams were locked at 10-10 in the sixth inning after four lead changes when an error allowed the winning run to score and Haily MacDonald added an insurance run on a groundout both with the bases loaded.

ON DECK
Away from home for the next week, Academy of Art heads to Hawaii for a stretch five doubleheaders for 10 games total. First up is UH Hilo on Mar. 13 on the Big Island followed by back-to-back twinbills at Hawaii Pacific (Mar. 15, 16) then at Chaminade (Mar. 18) and at BYU-Hawaii (Mar. 20).