Box Score 1 | Box Score 2


St. George, UT – Academy of Art University Softball again showed it could match Dixie State in a Tuesday doubleheader at Karl Brooks Field, but the Red Storm offense came early in the first and late in the second enabling a pair of victories for Dixie, 7-4 and 4-2. In the opener, ART U fought back against an early 7-0 advantage for the home team, scoring four in the late innings and equalizing the nine hits from the Red Storm. Game two was tied twice before Dixie State scratched across two runs in the final two frames for the win.

"We were closer to ourselves in these games, playing true Urban Knight softball," co-head coach Sami Strinz said. "We had our fight back and we battled a very good team.

Reminiscent of the series opener on Monday, Tuesday's game one saw Dixie State quickly get ahead 6-0 after Anna Cue hit a two-run homer in the first and Johnna Brown followed with a grand slam in the second. Red Storm starter Michelle Duncan (11-2), who had been in control through the first three innings, was suddenly blind sighted in the fourth.

ART U began with a double from junior Elyse Cordova and added an RBI single for sophomore Taylor Thurman to get on the scoreboard. Sophomore Kamyle Glover continued the stretch with a single, but Dixie State managed to exit without further damage.

Looking for a comeback in a 7-1 game heading into the sixth, the Urban Knights opened with another leadoff hit for Cordova and then junior Lauren Stover smacked her fifth double of the year to score her speedy teammate. Academy of Art loaded the bases later in the inning, but a groundout again kept it at just a single run rally.

Fighting back up until the final out, ART U executed another push in the seventh. The Urban Knights would string together three consecutive singles by Martin, sophomore Haily MacDonald, and Cordova to score their third run of the game. With Cordova on second after her RBI, senior Andrea Hanchey smacked a double to left center, bringing in her teammate once again. The rally and game concluded there as Dixie State prevailed 7-4, but ART U was primed to carry that momentum into the series finale.


In a fortuitous beginning to game two, a hit batter and a trio of walks from Red Storm starter Mattie Snow (8-4) were drawn by the Knights, getting them ahead 1-0 in the first inning. A sacrifice fly credited to Cue in the bottom of the first knotted up the contest 1-1.

From there, MacDonald and Dixie starter Mattie Snow both found their respective rhythms and combined to allow just one hit over the next two innings. The Red Storm went ahead 3-2 in the bottom of the fourth when a suicide squeeze enabled Courtney Sherwin to score. However, Academy of Art promptly responded with a rally in the fifth that started with singles by Martin and MacDonald and later featured Thurman's single to score one. A bases loaded situation was unfortunately left without that decisive hit again and the game was now tied.

Converting on their own situations with runners in scoring position, Dixie State pushed across one run in each of the two innings that followed and carried a 4-2 advantage into the last-chance seventh for ART U. Coaxing a pair of walks, Cordova and Hanchey helped the Knights make things very interesting as Thurman came up representing the winning run. However, a popout finished off the day and the Red Storm earned a win in the finale.

The Urban Knights become 9-16 overall and 7-9 in the PacWest with the day's results. Cordova had the biggest offensive day with a 3-for-4 game one performance that included a double, three runs scored, and an RBI. In each game, Thurman went 1-for-4 with an RBI while Martin was 1-for-3 with a run scored in each. MacDonald, who had a hit in both games as well, offered 5.0 solid innings in the circle for the nightcap while allowing just three runs on eight hits against one of the best offenses in the PacWest Conference.

"Haily did an excellent job hitting her spots today," Coach Strinz said. "She was dialed in and locating extremely well. We unfortunately had some miscues on defense that ended up being the difference in the game. We'll clean it up and get back at in on Saturday."

The Red Storm rise to 23-8 overall and 14-4 in the PacWest after receiving a standout day at the plate from Brown. The shortstop went 4-for-7 with a grand slam, a double, five RBIs, and a run scored. Jaelle Judkins was another tough out at the top of the lineup and she would finish 3-for-5 with three runs scored and three steals. Duncan picked up the complete game victory in game one with four runs allowed and five strikeouts in 7.0 innings. The second contest was another relief win for Kate Coffey (4-2) who did not allow a hit in 2.1 shutout innings.

ART U flies back to the Bay Area for its next matchup which comes this Saturday at Notre Dame de Namur. The Knights and Argonauts are scheduled to play a doubleheader beginning at 12:00 PM in Belmont.