Box Score #1
Box Score #2
Brisbane, CA – Less than twenty-four hours after their last competition, the Academy of Art University softball team was back in action with a late night double header Saturday. This was the first day of a two day series against PacWest members Dixie State. The Knights played well in both games holding their own against the No. 2 team in the conference. Despite another tough pitching performance from AAU, the women could not get their offense going. They fell short the first game with a score of 2-5, and battled hard in game two, but ended up dropping the game with a final score of 0-6.
The game was a pitching duel at the start, as both teams were scoreless for the first three innings. The Red Storm was the first to adjust as they scored one run in the top of the fourth. The Urban Knights answered right back by scoring a run of their own in the bottom of the inning when sophomore Sierrah Garcia singled to score sophomore Melissa Coe from second. But errors proved costly for AAU and Dixie came right back by posting two more runs in the top of the fifth.
AAU was able to score one more run in the bottom of the sixth when senior Shampayne Clay singled, scoring junior Ashley Lokey from second. But that would only cut the Red Storm's lead in half, and the Knights couldn't push across any more runs. The Red Storm added two more runs in the top of the seventh which secured their 5-2 victory over the Urban Knights.
Only four Urban Knights batters recorded hits in the game. Lokey did well going 1-3 with one run scored. Clay and Garcia also came through for the team as they both went 1-3 with one run batted in, and Coe scored one run in the game.
Freshman Kimberly Dauer started on the mound for AAU. She pitched well going 4.2 innings pitched giving up three hits, three runs (only one earned), one walk, and had four strikeouts. Garcia came in for relief and went 2.1 innings pitched also giving up three hits, two runs (one earned), three walks, and had one strikeout. Dauer received the loss in the game.
Lead hitters for the Red Storm were Bailie Hicken who went 3-4 with a triple, two runs, and one run batted in, Ashley McFarland who went 1-2 with a double, Shantae Hunter who went 1-3 with one RBI, and Breanna Egge who went 1-4 with one run batted in.
Lauren Folta was on the mound for Dixie and recorded the win in the game. She went seven innings pitched giving up three hits, two earned runs, three walks, and had eight strikeouts.
The Urban Knights scored two runs on three hits, committed four errors and left five runners on base.
Game two started identical to game one. Both team's pitchers were solid and again the game was scoreless, this time through four innings. Again the Red Storm struck first as they manufactured a run in the top of the fifth. They then added to their lead by scoring twice in the sixth, and three times in the seventh to take a six run lead heading into the bottom half of the seventh.
The Urban Knights had runners in scoring position throughout the game, but failed to capitalize on those runners and were unable to bring any in. With errors being costly, and their hits far and few between, the Knights were not able to get anything going in the second game and came up short with a final score of 0-6.
Lokey did well offensively for AAU in the second game going 1-4 with a double, and Coe did well going 1-2 with a walk. They were the only Knights to record hits in the game. Freshman Andrea Hanchey drew two walks in the game to reach base safely.
Garcia started in the circle for the Urban Knights. She went 6.2 innings pitched giving up six runs (two earned), two walks, and had four strikeouts. Dauer came in for relief and went .1 innings, retiring the only batter she saw. Garcia received the loss in the game.
For the Red Storm, A. McFarland did well going 3-4 with a home run, one run, and three runs batted in, Mendenhall went 1-2 with one run, and one run batted in, and B. Egge went 1-3 with a double, one run, and one RBI.
B. Whipple received the win for her team going all seven innings pitched. She gave up just two hits, no runs, three walks, and had six strikeouts.
The Urban Knights scored no runs on two hits, had three errors, and left seven runners on base.
After the losses, the Academy of Art University's record falls to 28-22-1 overall, and 17-13 in the PacWest, while Dixie State College's record improves to 34-11 overall, and 23-5 in conference. The two teams will face each other again tomorrow, April 25th. These will be the final games of the 2010 season for the Urban Knights. Senior day will precede the games with a short ceremony before the first pitch of game one. Game times are set for 12:00 and 2:00 PM at Mission Blue Field.
