Box Score #1
Box Score #2

Brisbane, CA – In the completion of a weekend series facing the Pacific West Conference's top softball team, Academy of Art University once again challenged the Cal Baptist on both sides of a doubleheader out at Mission Blue Field. Game one was a one-run showdown through three innings before CBU's four-run fourth swung the momentum to the visitors in the form of a 6-1 final. Though the Lancers went ahead 4-0 early in the series finale, ART U battled back and even brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh, but the Lancers held on for a 4-2 win.

For the first time in this series, it was Academy of Art (20-27, 14-16 PacWest) who went ahead first, doing so in the opening inning of game one. After Ashley Lokey walked to start it off, Lauren Stover followed with 16th double of the year, a ground-rule double, to put two in scoring position. Julie Martin would also reach and the bases were then loaded for Genna Allen who brought one in on an RBI groundout, but the rest were stranded which quickly became a recurring theme for ART U.

“I think all series we were one hit away from breaking things open on our side,” head coach Rachel Sherman said. “We did a good job getting runners on base and were right there.”

Cal Baptist (42-6, 25-4 PacWest) responded with a two-run rally in the second inning to take a slim lead. Freshman pitcher Haily MacDonald (6-8) came back with a quick third inning, but the fourth ended up being the difference in the game. A sacrifice fly made it 3-1, however, back-to-back two-out RBI doubles created a larger margin for CBU and the visitors led 6-1 at the end of the inning.

Scoring opportunities came as ART U would load the bases in the fifth and sixth, but they just could not get that last hit to produce runs. Elyse Cordova and Lokey both singled in the fifth along with a Stover walk and then singles by Allen and Taylor Thurman were coupled with Andrea Hanchey reaching on an error in the sixth. Unfortunately for the Knights, both chances did not get runs across as the bases were left loaded. Kimberly Dauer (11-10) worked 3.1 scoreless innings of relief to keep Academy of Art close, but in the end, Cal Baptist would earn a 6-1 victory.


Through three innings of game two, the Lancers had amassed a 4-0 lead thanks to two solo home runs and a three-run third, but ART U was not swayed. The Knights had shown their ability to push a scoring threat after getting a runner to third base in the second and third innings and in the fourth they would break through for one run against the Lancers' Tory Ferreira (21-2).

A one-out single by Allen was followed by her steal of second and then a groundout got the senior infielder to third. Head's up base-running allowed her to score on Ferreira's wild pitch and the game was now 4-1 CBU. Freshman pitcher Kristin Valdivia (2-6) completed the first two innings for the Knights before giving way to Dauer who helped make her team's comeback attempt possible with effective work in the circle. She limited the potent Lancer offense to just three hits in the final three innings while ART U dropped it to a two-run margin in the fifth.

With Lokey and Stover on and two out, Nicole Smith delivered a clutch RBI single. However, two were again left on as CBU got a groundout to end the inning. In the seventh, Lokey hit a two-out single to bring Stover to the plate representing the tying run in a 4-2 game, but another groundout was the final result as Cal Baptist captured the win.

Offensively, the Urban Knights had Lokey go 3-for-5 with two runs scored and four stolen bases including three in game two to tie the program's single-game record for the fourth time in her career. Allen was 1-for-3 in each of the contests, adding an RBI, a steal, and a run scored while Cordova pushed her current hit streak to nine games with a single in each game. Stover had ART U's lone extra-base hit of the twinbill, doubling in the opener. Solid in relief, Dauer threw a total of 7.0 scoreless innings across both contests while striking out five.

“I think Kim did a good job in relief today,” Coach Sherman said. “We had her in relief to mix things up and match up with Kristin and Haily and I feel she did just that. We just needed that one hit to get the pitchers the run support.”

CBU's Mara Rodriguez was again a thorn in the Knights' side as she finished the day 4-for-8 with a home run, two doubles, two RBIs, and a run scored. In the circle, Emma Holden (21-4) came away with the victory in game one after allowing one run on five hits with 10 strikeouts through a complete 7.0 innings. Ferreira followed with two runs allowed on six hits in her 7.0 innings of work.

Just one final gameday remains for Academy of Art University softball this season. The Urban Knights will be in action against Notre Dame de Namur on Saturday, Apr. 28 at Mission Blue Field for a doubleheader. A Senior Day ceremony will take place prior to the first pitch.