Game #18 & 19
ART U Urban Knights (5-12) vs. Cal State Stanislaus Warriors (7-20)
Wednesday, March 7, 2012 at 12:00 & 2:00 PM
Turlock, CA – Warrior Softball Field
Live Stats
Twitter Updates

Games #20 & 21
ART U Urban Knights (5-12, 1-3 PWC) vs. Dixie State Red Storm (6-5, 1-3 PWC)
Saturday, March 10, 2012 at 3:00 & 5:00 PM
Brisbane, CA – Mission Blue Field
Live Stats
Twitter Updates

Games #22 & 23
ART U Urban Knights (5-12, 1-3 PWC) vs. Dixie State Red Storm (6-5, 1-3 PWC)
Sunday, March 11, 2012 at 12:00 & 2:00 PM
Brisbane, CA – Mission Blue Field
Live Stats
Twitter Updates

KNIGHTS TO MAKE UP POSTPONED GAMES AGAINST STANISLAUS, CONTINUE PACWEST PLAY AGAINST DIXIE
After weather forced Academy of Art University softball to reschedule its non-conference doubleheader versus the CCAA's Cal State Stanislaus, ART U is now set face the Warriors this Wednesday in Turlock, CA before returning to Mission Blue Field for a four-game Pacific West Conference series with Dixie State this weekend.

FAN BUS SIGN UP
If you are headed to the games this Sunday for Youth Day, be sure to sign up for the FAN BUS at the following link:


FIRST PITCH
Warrior Softball Field will be the site of ART U's first two games this week against Cal State Stanislaus. The teams are scheduled to begin at 12:00 PM on Wednesday, Mar. 7. Then the Knights' weekend series versus the Red Storm begins with a 3:00 PM doubleheader this Saturday, Mar. 10 followed by a 12:00 PM first pitch to a doubleheader on Sunday, Mar. 11. Live Stats will be available for all contests (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
It was the Academy of Art youth who came through with big hits in the Urban Knights' 4-3 victory over Grand Canyon this past weekend. Freshman Haily MacDonald drove in two with a double and freshman Taylor Thurman later broke a tie in extra innings with a two-run homer. In addition to the freshmen's success, sophomore outfielder Elyse Cordova continued to maintain her team-best .462 batting average (3rd in PacWest) particularly thanks to a stellar game one against GCU in which she reached base all four times (2-for-2 with two walks) and swiped three bases to give her seven on the year (2nd in PacWest). At the top of the ART U lineup, senior outfielder Ashley Lokey now has scored a team-high 18 runs to lead the PacWest and also increased her batting average to .357 to go three home runs, 12 runs batted in, and 10 walks. The tandem of senior infielder Genna Allen and sophomore infielder Lauren Stover are the two other Knights currently hitting over .300. Though her seven-game hitting streak came to an end, Allen has still been hot, posting a .309 clip with four home runs and 14 RBIs thus far while Stover is now at .304 after offering two multi-hit games over the weekend during her current seven-game hit streak.

On the mound, junior starting pitcher Kimberly Dauer moved to 3-5 on the year after throwing all 8.0 innings in the game four victory on Sunday. She struck out a season-high seven batters in that outing and continues to demonstrate stellar control as she has now walked just three in her last 20.0 innings pitched. In the PacWest, she is now 4th in strikeouts (27), 5th in innings pitched (50.0), and 5th in complete games (5).

STANDING UP TO STANISLAUS
Cal State Stanislaus won two of five in its own Best of the West Tournament at the beginning of the year, 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 Warriors then managed to snag one of four from a No. 3 Chico State team Academy of Art nearly upset in mid-February. Ace hurler Brittni Weatherford (4-7) leads the team with 54 strikeouts in 74.1 innings pitched. Of the regular starters, the team is led offensively by Jordan Flora who is hitting .317 with three home runs and 11 RBIs. In the past, ART U and Cal State Stanislaus have played each other four times with ART U holding a 2-1 series edge in a series which also featured the only tie in Urban Knight history.

QUIETING THE STORM
Sharing the same conference record as Academy of Art (1-3), Dixie State experience early success, but struggled in a recent series with Cal Baptist. DSC won five of its first seven contests including a four-game win streak which came in the MSU-Billings Desert Stinger. The Red Storm topped Central Washington 3-2, Western Oregon 6-4, host MSU-Billings 6-3, and finally convincingly defeated Cal State San Bernardino 12-4. Riding high going into PacWest play, the run was short-lived as Cal Baptist won game one of a four-part series 8-4 and later took 9-1 and 3-1 victories on day two. Dixie State did win one game 5-1 thanks primarily to a three-run homer from Kelsey Mendenhall, who leads the team with 10 RBIs. She and Johnna Brown are both hitting over .350 (.355 and .353 respectively) and have combined to hit eight of the squad's 15 home runs (2nd in PacWest). The Red Storm's top starting pitcher has been Mattie Snow (3-2) who owns a 3.98 ERA with 25 strikeouts in 31.2 innings pitched. DSC holds a 9-2 series advantage against the Knights.

ACADEMY OF ART FINISHES STRONG, EARNS 4-3 WIN OVER GRAND CANYON
In the start of PacWest play for both teams, ART U and GCU met for a quartet of games this past weekend at Mission Blue Field. Though the Antelopes won the first doubleheader, 5-4 and 8-6, neither was by a large margin. Game one started with Academy of Art up 2-0, but a five-run fifth tipped the scales in the 'Lopes' favor. In the nightcap, the Knights had gone ahead 6-4 with their own five-run inning (a fourth in which Lokey crushed a three-run homer) before GCU retook the lead with their own rally and held on for the 8-6 decision. On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, Grand Canyon started strong with a 7-2 victory thanks in large part to a three-run home run in the sixth. However, the Urban Knights would laugh last as they held a 2-1 advantage early in the series finale and then fended off GCU in extra innings with a two-run blast to left field off the bat off Thurman. As the visiting team in the game, Academy of Art still needed to keep the Antelopes at bay once more in the eighth and Dauer helped accomplish that task by striking out the final two batters in the 4-3 victory.

LOOKING AHEAD
An intense 12-game roadtrip on the Hawaiian islands comes up next for ART U softball. The Urban Knights start off with a doubleheader at Hawaii-Hilo on Mar. 16 followed by a four-game series with Hawaii Pacific (Mar. 18-19), a pair against Chaminade (Mar. 21), and finally four versus BYU-Hawaii (Mar. 23-24).