Box Score - NNU
Box Score - Lewis
Las Vegas, NV – On day two of the Desert Stinger Tournament, the Academy of Art University's softball team came out attacking, eager for a win and redemption after two tough loses the previous day. The women battled Northwest Nazarene University and Lewis University in a double header on Saturday afternoon. The Urban Knights continued with the hot bats, and their offense controlled the tempo of the games. That, combined with solid defense, allowed the women to succeed in both games. ART U came away with a complete sweep on the day, defeating NNU with a score of 14-4, and later defeating Lewis University, 3-2.
The first game allowed the Urban Knights to show their true offensive power, as their bats exploded from the get go. Every batter in the line-up for the Knights recorded a hit in the game, and all but two players recorded multiple hits.
“We have been making some great adjustments in the box,” said Head Coach Rachel Sherman. “Hitters have been patient and jumping on the one pitch they want. It has been great to see it come together from practice to game time.”
ART U wasted little time getting things going in the game. They jumped on the board quickly by scoring four runs in the top of first inning, and two runs in the second. After the women posted three more runs in the top of the fourth, NNU started to threaten the Knights' 9-0 lead by posting some runs of their own. The Crusaders would score twice in the fourth, and twice more in the sixth, but it would not be enough to keep the Knights quiet. After ART U scored five more runs in the top of the sixth, they had extended their lead by so much, that the game was called after the sixth inning due to the run rule. After all of the scoring came to an end, Art U came away with a 14-4 victory.
Sophomore Andrea Hanchey had a great game for the Urban Knights. She went 4-5 with two runs scored. Sophomore Jayme Stewart also did well going 3-4 with a homerun, a double, three runs scored, and four runs batted in. Junior Genna Allen stood out going 3-4 with a double, three runs scored, and one RBI, and Julie Martin went 3-5 with a double, one run, a stolen base, and one RBI. Rounding things out was freshman Elyse Cordova who went 2-4 with a homerun, one run, and three runs batted in, and junior Melissa Coe who went 2-3 with a stolen base, one run, and one RBI.
Freshman Katie Brooks was in the circle for the Knights and threw a great game. She went all six innings pitched giving up four runs, and posted three strikeouts. Brooks received the win in the game.
“Coach D has been a lot of help to the pitchers with confidence, mechanics, pace, and knowledge; and our defense has done a good job in picking them up in certain situations,” said Sherman. “Our offense is giving us some cushion to work on things to prepare us for conference.”
For the Crusaders, Arielle Chao did well going 2-3 with a double, one run, and one RBI. Also having a good game was Cara Duckworth who went 1-2 with a triple, Emily Renfrow who went 1-2 ,and Kristin Refsland who also went 1-2 with one run scored.
The Urban Knights scored 14 runs on 22 hits, recorded no errors, and left 11 runners on base.
Game two was very different from the first game. Although ART U's bats were still hot, the women had to rely more on their pitching and defense to keep them in the game. Playing against a very strong Lewis University team, the Urban Knights came out with a lot of intensity and it showed.
ART U used their powerful offense to take control early in the game. The Knights got on the board in the bottom of the first, when sophomore Jayme Stewart hit a double to score sophomore Julie Martin from second. The women then added to their lead when sophomore Andrea Hanchey led off the second inning with a homerun over the center field fence. This gave the Knights a 2-0 lead which held them for most of the game.
Solid pitching kept the Flyers off balance for much of the game. It wasn't until the top of the fifth inning when the Flyers got on the board. Lewis pushed across one run in the top of the fifth, and then scored again in the top of the sixth to tie the game at two. The Urban Knights immediately answered back when Stewart hit a deep homerun to left field in the bottom of the sixth to give her team the lead. ART U was able to shut the Flyers down in the seventh, and took the game with a final score of 3-2.
“I think we played great both days, but today we had no mercy,” added Coach Sherman. “With a lead, or without, we played like it was 0-0 and never stopped scoring.”
Stewart and Hanchey both led the Urban Knights going 2-3 with a homerun, one run scored, and one run batted in. Martin also did well going 1-3 with one run scored, and sophomore Alyssa Hickey and freshman Elyse Cordova both recorded a hit in the game.
Junior Sierrah Garcia had a great game in the circle for ART U. She went all seven innings pitched giving up one earned run, and posted six strikeouts. Garcia received the win for her team.
For the Flyers, Katie Healy and Alyssa Moseley did well going 2-3, as did Kayla Smith who went 1-3 with one run batted in. Receiving the loss in the game was Alyssa Moseley who went seven innings pitched, giving up seven hits, three earned runs, and posted one strikeout.
The Urban Knights scored three runs on seven hits, had three errors, and left four runners on base.
After the wins, the Academy of Art University's record improves to 5-3 overall. The Knights will compete in the final day of the Desert Stinger Tournament tomorrow, February 13th. They are set to take on New Mexico Highlands University in a single game starting at 2:30 PM. The game will be held at field five at Majestic Park.
