Games #20 & 21
ART U Urban Knights (9-10, 7-3 PWC) vs. Holy Names Hawks (3-21, 2-4 PWC)
Saturday, March 9, 2013 at 11:00 AM
Hayward, CA – Larry Standley Field (27812 Patrick Ave)

ACADEMY OF ART RETURNS TO BAY AREA FOR TWO WEEKS
Winners of five of its last six games, the Academy of Art University Softball team heads over the Bay Bridge this Saturday for a Pacific West Conference pairing with Holy Names. The Urban Knights, who have won three in a row following last week's sweep of Dominican, sport a 7-3 conference record which has them currently third in the conference standings.

FIRST PITCH
Academy of Art travels to Hayward, CA and Standley Field (27812 Patrick Ave) for a doubleheader against Holy Names this Saturday, Mar. 9. There will be no live stats for these games, however, scores will be posted on Twitter afterwards. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights on Twitter and "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

KNIGHT WATCH
Offering a team-high of batting average of .414 (9th in PacWest), junior Lauren Stover has been on an absolute tear particularly since the start of conference play. The Las Vegas, NV native is currently riding an 11-game hitting streak (tied with the program-record set by fellow junior Elyse Cordova at the end of last season) and also leads the team in both extra-base hits (5) and RBIs (tied with senior Andrea Hanchey). As ART U's regular leadoff hitter, sophomore Haily MacDonald has gotten herself aboard quite often. She is hitting .400 thus far and has scored a team-best 17 runs. Senior Alyssa Hickey, a pinch-hitter extraordinaire for the Urban Knights, boasts a .308 batting average after delivering a key RBI single during Academy of Art's eight-run comeback inning against Dominican.

With her first complete game shutout of the season versus Dominican last week, junior Kimberly Dauer (4-6) has risen to Top 7 in the PacWest with a 2.43 ERA. Six of her 44 strikeouts this year came in her performance against the Penguins. In addition, Dauer recorded the third save of her ART U career by striking out the final batter of game two to preserve MacDonald's perfect 3-0 record. MacDonald threw 6.2 strong innings against Dominican and sports a 3.66 ERA after 28.2 IP this year. Sophomore Kristin Valdivia (2-1), a key reliever, offers the team-lead with two saves as well as a 2.52 ERA in 25.0 innings pitched.

NAME THAT UPSET
After starting the year with a six straight losses and just one win in their first 19 contests, Holy Names managed to knock off California Baptist 2-1 for its second victory thus far. In their most recent four-game stint at Azusa Pacific, HNU picked up another 2-1 win despite going 1-3 in the series. Offensively, the team is led by Alexis Moctezuma who is hitting .310 with three home runs, seven doubles, and 12 runs scored. Nicole Ochoa (3-8) and Vanessa Pulido (0-8) are both in the 5.00-6.00 ERA range while combining for 19 of the team's 26 starts.

EXPLOSIVE ART U COMEBACK HIGHLIGHTS SWEEP
Academy of Art University Softball delivered Pacific West Conference victories six and seven with a two-game sweep of Dominican Saturday out at Mission Blue Field. The Urban Knights offered a dominant pitching performance by Dauer and capitalized on Penguin miscues to take a 3-0 win in the opener before erupting for eight runs in the sixth inning of game two to eventually pull out an 8-7 victory. Both team efforts with a variety of contributors, the wins helped keep ART U a perfect 16-0 historically against Dominican.

LOOKING AHEAD
The Urban Knights have over a week without competition before they head out-of-state for the second time this season next week. ART U travels to St. George, UT for a four-game series with Dixie State. ART U on Mar. 18-19 then comes back to the Bay Area for a Mar. 23 matchup with Notre Dame de Namur.