Game #14 & 15
ART U Urban Knights (4-9) vs. Cal State Stanislaus (6-17)
Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 12:00 & 2:00 PM
Turlock, CA – Warrior Softball Field
Live Stats
Twitter Updates

Games #16 & 17
ART U Urban Knights (4-9, 0-0 PWC) vs. Grand Canyon Antelopes (7-6, 0-0 PWC)
Saturday, March 3, 2012 at 3:00 & 5:00 PM
Brisbane, CA – Mission Blue Field
Twitter Updates

Games #18 & 19
ART U Urban Knights (4-9, 0-0 PWC) vs. Grand Canyon Antelopes (7-6, 0-0 PWC)
Sunday, March 4, 2012 at 12:00 & 2:00 PM
Brisbane, CA – Mission Blue Field
Live Stats
Twitter Updates

ART U FACES LAST CCAA OPPONENT, HOSTS GCU OVER WEEKEND
The Urban Knights come into this week having swept Humboldt State of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and looking for more wins against West Regional opponents. Academy of Art, who will begin Pacific West Conference play this weekend, first takes on Cal State Stanislaus on Wednesday. Saturday brings with it the start of a two-day, four-game series which pits ART U against Grand Canyon back at Mission Blue Field.

FIRST PITCH
The Knights will travel to Turlock, CA where they will face Cal State Stanislaus in a 12:00 PM doubleheader out at Warrior Softball Field. Academy of Art then returns home to Brisbane, CA for its pair of doubleheaders versus GCU. Saturday's action will begin at 3:00 PM and Sunday's first pitch is scheduled for 12:00 PM. Live Stats will be available for Wednesday and Sunday's games while all contests will have periodic Twitter updates (see above). Remember to check @UrbanKnightNews on Twitter for score updates and recaps. Also become a fan of the Knights on Facebook by 'Like'-ing the Urban Knights page.

KNIGHT WATCH
Junior starting pitcher Kimberly Dauer (2-4) captured a PacWest Weekly Top 10 selection this past week for her stellar work against Humboldt State. The Los Osos, CA native posted two complete game victories and has now moved up the rankings in a number of PacWest categories. She is now 7th in innings pitched (36.0), tied for 5th in complete games (4), and 6th in strikeouts (18). Offensively, four Urban Knights are currently batting over .300, led by sophomore outfielder Elyse Cordova's .475 clip which ranks 3rd in the PacWest. Senior infielder Genna Allen and junior utility Andrea Hanchey, the heart of the ART U order, follow with averages of .350 and .342 respectively. Allen, who is currently riding a six-game hitting streak, leads the way with a team-high four home runs (2nd in PacWest) and 14 runs batted in (3rd in PacWest). Hanchey has added three home runs and nine RBIs in addition to being a perfect 3-for-3 in stolen base attempts. Senior outfielder Ashley Lokey, the team's leading run scorer with 14 thus far (2nd in PacWest), is hitting .326 with two home runs, nine RBIs, and a team-best five steals (2nd in PacWest).

STANDING UP TO STANISLAUS
Cal State Stanislaus won two of five in its own Best of the West Tournament then defeated Hawaii-Hilo 7-5 to start a trip to the islands, but a nine-game losing streak would follow. UHH took the series from the Warriors and then UCSD swept CSUS in four games (though two of those were settled by one run). Since that time, Stanislaus split a pair with Notre Dame de Namur before taking one of four from No. 20 Cal State Dominguez Hills. The one, however, was a grueling 10-inning pitchers' duel which eventually settled with the Warriors on top 3-2. Throwing over 9.0 innings in that one was CSUS's ace Brittni Weatherford (3-6) who leads the team with 42 strikeouts in 61.2 innings pitched. Of the regular starters, the team is led offensively by Jordan Flora who is hitting .319 with three home runs and nine RBIs. In the past, ART U and Cal State Stanislaus have played each other four times with Academy of Art holding a 2-1 series edge which also featured the only tie in Urban Knight history.

CLEARING THE CANYON
Grand Canyon started off the 2012 season strong, winning three of four including taking a pair from Western New Mexico. As a .500 team in PacWest play last season, however, the tides turned shortly thereafter as GCU went on to lose five consecutive games in the Desert Stinger. The closest contest in that stretch was an 11-10 loss to host MSU-Billings in which the team's leading offensive weapon, infielder Lauren Regester, hit two home runs and drove in five. Grand Canyon then hosted their own GCU Invitational and proceeded to win four in a row, scoring over 9.0 runs per game and defeating Fort Lewis as well as Western New Mexico each twice. Regester sports a .452 batting average thus far and she is supported by Kelsey Barak's .422 clip. That tandem has combined for six of the Antelopes' nine home runs and 26 RBIs. On the mound, a 5-2 Kiley Raica has led the way with a 3.06 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 48.0 innings pitched. Historically, the 'Lopes and Knights have faced one another four times with each team winning two apiece.

ART U PUSHES #15 WILDCATS TO LIMIT, SWEEPS HUMBOLDT
Gaining momentum from a near upset of No. 15 Chico State on Feb. 17, the Urban Knights turned around and took both games from Humboldt State two days later at Mission Blue Field. The week began with a doubleheader in Chico, CA in which the Wildcats took game one 9-0, but the second contest was an incredible back-and-forth fight particularly in the late innings. Academy of Art led 2-1 for the majority of the game, temporarily lost the lead in the sixth, regained it with a three-run rally in the seventh, and ultimately fell 6-5 after CSUC scored three of its own. Freshman pitcher Haily MacDonald (1-1) was strong in the first start of her ART U career and the duo of Allen and Hanchey each finished with two RBIs apiece.

Against HSU, it was a total team effort as the Knights topped the Jacks 5-2 in the opener and then used a historic rally to win a shortened, mercy rule game two 11-3. It was an eventful first inning in game one where Academy of Art scored five runs, highlighted by a two-run hits from juniors Jayme Stewart and Nicole Smith. After Dauer pitched a strong 7.0 innings, ART U would go on to win 5-2. Then, in the contest that followed, ART U set the program's new single-inning run record with nine in the sixth. Cordova went 3-for-4 in that one while Lokey and Allen each added three RBIs apiece and Dauer earned her second complete game victory of the day.

LOOKING AHEAD
The PacWest homestand continues for Academy of Art next weekend as Dixie State College comes to town. It will be a four-game series between the two teams beginning with a 3:00 PM doubleheader on Saturday, Mar. 10 and concluding with a 12:00 PM doubleheader on Sunday, Mar. 11.

If you are riding the fan bus to Youth Day on Saturday, Mar. 10, make sure you are signed up at Fan Bus Central: http://bit.ly/eC8mrO