Box Score #1
Box Score #2

Belmont, CA – In a pair of low scoring affairs where pitching and defense were paramount, Notre Dame de Namur defeated Academy of Art University, 1-0 and 2-0. ART U and NDNU battled through six scoreless innings of game one before the Argos won on just their fourth and fifth hits of the contest in the seventh. Notre Dame de Namur would score the only two runs of game two in a hitless third. The tandem of junior Kimberly Dauer and freshman Haily MacDonald combined to allow just three earned runs on seven hits in 14.0 innings Saturday at Notre Dame High School.

“Everybody hit the ball hard today,” head coach Rachel Sherman said. “We just happened to hit it right at people. [NDNU] was able to get a few hits to fall in even though we had solid defense as our hits didn't find holes. I thought both games were hard fought and overall I thought we did well on both sides of the ball.”

The first installment of the doubleheader began with a single by senior outfielder Ashley Lokey, but after three outs followed, the game moved extremely quickly with both defenses getting the job done. Two total hits were allowed in the first three innings, one for each team, and it was not until the fourth inning when a runner would reach scoring position. Academy of Art (16-23, 10-12 PacWest) first attempted to get sophomore infielder Lauren Stover there after a walk, but she was caught stealing. Later in the inning, junior catcher Andrea Hanchey got to second on a fielder's choice and a wild pitch, but she too was left stranded.

NDNU (17-20, 6-10 PacWest) seemed unable to find a crack in Dauer's armor as she two-hit the Argos through four innings, retiring 12 of 14 batters to start the game. In the sixth, Notre Dame de Namur threatened with a single and stolen base by Sylvia Honne, but Dauer (10-9) bore down and got out of the jam with a groundout. The junior hurler continued her recent dominance in the circle and has broken into the PacWest's Top 10 earned run average leaders.

“I thought Kim threw a phenomenal game,” Coach Sherman said. “She really was able to set up batters to hit the ball right at people.”

Still tied 0-0 heading into the the seventh, it appeared a single clutch hit would decide this game. Senior infielder Genna Allen opened the Knights' seventh by getting hit by a pitch and eventually reaching third base with two outs. However, she did not score and, after a hit and a walk in the seventh, NDNU managed to win 1-0 with a walk-off RBI single from Breanna Young.


Game two was more zeroes on the scoreboard early as MacDonald (5-6) retired six of the seven Argos she faced. Lokey walked to start things off for Academy of Art, the designated home team, in the first inning and was sacrificed to second before an unfortunate turn of events had her thrown out at third on a fielder's choice. Similarly in the second inning, Allen hit a leadoff single, but she was later caught stealing second.

In the third, NDNU scored the only two runs of the game by way of an RBI fielder's choice for Hillary Uekawa and a fielding error on the same play. ART U would still have scoring opportunities such as a pair of walks to sophomore outfielder Elyse Cordova and Lokey in the third as well as a single and a stolen base for Cordova in the fifth, but groundouts ended the threat on each occasion.

MacDonald, who had previously thrown a two-hit shutout against Hawaii-Hilo, limited the Argos to just two hits as well, but the two runs scored in the third ended up holding to the game's conclusion. Academy of Art had one final chance with two on and two out in the bottom of the seventh, but  a lineout resulted in the 2-0 victory for NDNU.

Dauer's final line after game one included one run allowed on five hits in 6.2 innings pitched with three strikeouts. She continued her success by now allowing just six runs in her last 43.2 innings pitched. MacDonald followed that up with two runs allowed on two hits with no walks and one strikeout in 7.0 innings pitched. Offensively, the Knights were led by Lokey's 2-for-3 game one and the tandem of MacDonald and Cordova who each had a hit to go with a stolen base in the second contest.

Led by shutouts from Sammy McConvey and Hillary Ruddick, the Argonauts did not need much offensively to earn the victories Saturday. McConvey went 7.0 innings and pitched a two-hitter while Ruddick threw 7.0 innings allowing three hits and striking out four in that span. The team had two RBIs on the day with one going to Breanna Young and the other assigned to Hillary Uekawa.

ART U next plays Dominican for the first time this season on Saturday, Apr. 14 at Saint Mary's College in Moraga, CA. The teams will turn around and face one another in the Knights' Swing for a Cause game on Sunday, Apr. 15 at Mission Blue Field.