Games #42 & 43
ART U Urban Knights (13-28, 9-15 PWC) vs. Hawaii Pacific Sea Warriors (23-16, 12-10 PWC)
Thursday, April 18, 2013 at 12:00 PM
Brisbane, CA – Mission Blue Field
Live Stats

Games #44 & 45
ART U Urban Knights (13-28, 9-15 PWC) vs. Holy Names Hawks (13-33, 7-15 PWC)
Saturday, April 20, 2013 at 12:00 PM
Brisbane, CA – Mission Blue Field
Live Stats

Games 46 & 47
ART U Urban Knights (13-28, 9-15 PWC) vs. BYU-Hawaii Seasiders (5-35, 2-22 PWC)
Monday, April 22, 2013 at 12:00 PM
Brisbane, CA – Mission Blue Field
Live Stats

SOFTBALL WELCOMES HPU, HNU, BYUH TO MISSION BLUE
With its 2013 regular season road schedule now complete, Academy of Art University literally approaches its home stretch. The Urban Knights play host to four teams over the course of the next week and a half with three of those matchups coming up this week through Monday. Hawaii Pacific is first this Thursday, then a rematch with Holy Names comes Saturday, and BYU-Hawaii is in town on Monday.

FIRST PITCH
Academy of Art begins its final homestand at Mission Blue Field with Hawaii Pacific in town for a doubleheader on Thursday, Apr. 18. Two days later on Saturday, Apr. 20, ART U has a rematch with Holy Names then the Knights face BYU-Hawaii on Monday, Apr. 22. All gamedays are set to begin at 12:00 PM. Live Stats will be available for all games. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights on Twitter and "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

**Special Note** A FAN BUS will be available to all Academy of Art University students and staff for a special "Smoke Your Competition" event coming up this Saturday, Apr. 20. The bus leaves from 620 Sutter at 1:00 PM and gets you an exclusive t-shirt along with a chance to stay for a drug awareness seminar hosted by the San Mateo Police Department. Sign up here: FAN BUS CENTRAL

KNIGHT WATCH
The ART U trio of junior Lauren Stover, sophomore Haily MacDonald, and junior Elyse Cordova continue to remain the top three hitters on the club. Stover offers team-highs in batting average (.364), home runs (3), RBIs (21), slugging percentage (.479), and on-base percentage (.435). MacDonald comes in hitting .343 along with a team-best 26 runs scored, nine stolen bases, and four triples (still one from Ashley Lokey's ART U single-season record). She is the only Urban Knight to play in and start all 41 games this season. Cordova had her team-high 13th multi-hit game at Grand Canyon and has a .321 batting average with six doubles and 25 runs scored.

Senior Kimberly Dauer (6-14) has made the most starts on the team (20) and carries a 3.75 ERA to put her among the Top 20 in the PacWest Conference. She adds 80 strikeouts in 121.1 innings pitched with 13 complete games. Sophomore Kristin Valdivia (2-3) has the lowest ERA on the team (2.78) as the Knights' primary reliever.

SEA WARRIORS' WHIRLWIND TOUR
With the exception of a mid-season bump in the road, Hawaii Pacific has been on a roll in 2013. The Sea Warriors came out of the gate winning five of their first six games and maintained their winning record until California Baptist came to town. The Lancers took three of four from HPU and Dixie State, ranked #22 at the time, then swept a doubleheader. The Sea Warriors bounced back, however, and swept Grand Canyon, ranked #7 at the time, with a pair of 2-1 victories. That would feed into a stretch where HPU won 10 of 11. Most recently after competing in the Tournament of Champions, Hawaii Pacific split with Chaminade on Apr. 11 back in Hawaii and now opens a four-day, six-game swing through the Bay Area. Despite their success, HPU is currently just a bit above .500 in PacWest play. The Sea Warriors are led by Keila Elderts (.451, 7 2B, 4 3B, 24 RBI, 37 R, 20 SB) and Chante Tesoro (.405, 9 2B, 4 3B, 38 R). In the circle, Kristen Caskey (12-5, 1.95 ERA, 118.2 IP, 41 SO) has been very strong for Hawaii Pacific. HPU holds a 2-10 all-time edge against Academy of Art.

HEAD-TO-HEAD WITH THE HAWKS
After starting the year with a 2-23 record, Holy Names began to turn things around with victories against Azusa Pacific, Concordia (NE), Academy of Art, Dominican, and Menlo. However, in the most recent history, HNU struggled hosting Chaminade, UH Hilo, and Hawaii Pacific. Then four losses at Grand Canyon and Dixie State have made the Hawks 2-10 in their last 12 games. Holy Names is scheduled to face BYU-Hawaii on Friday, Apr. 19 before seeing Academy of Art for its rematch. Alexis Moctezuma (.298, 10 2B, 3 3B, 3 HR, 11 RBI, 28 R, 10 SB) has made the greatest offensive contributions among regular starters while Nicole Ochoa (9-13, 4.04 ERA, 135.0 IP, 56 SO) has led in the rotation. Relatively even since the teams began meeting one another, Holy Names now has a 5-4 edge in its history with ART U.

ROUGH SEAS FOR BYU-HAWAII
The 2013 season has been a difficult one for BYU-Hawaii Softball. The Seasiders started the year with a 10-game losing streak and it was not until facing Chaminade that BYUH earned its first victories. It was a total of four victories in six games against the Silverswords that gave the Seasiders some momentum and continued with a 7-4 win against Martin Methodist. However, BYU-Hawaii's current losing streak began after that. A total of 23 consecutive games have seen Seasider opponents get the better of them with UH Hilo, California Baptist, Dixie State, Grand Canyon, Caminade (again), Azusa Pacific, Hawaii Pacific, and NDNU all coming away with sweeps BYUH will face Dominican on Apr. 20 prior to coming to Mission Blue Field. Offensively and defensively, Tiffanee Framption (.298, 4 HR, 6 2B, 22 RBI as a hitter and 3-17, 4.86 ERA, 99.1 IP, 44 SO as a pitcher) has been a bright spot for the Seasiders. Having met one another 14 times thus far, ART U holds a 9-5 edge over BYUH thus far.

ART U SOFTBALL RALLIES LATE BUT 'LOPES HOLD ON
Academy of Art University Softball demonstrated its 'road warrior' style, battling against one of the top teams in the Pacific West Conference last Saturday, Apr. 13 out at Grand Canyon's Stapleton-Pierson Stadium. Though the Antelopes claimed game one 9-1 after six innings and threatened with another lead in game two, ART U refused to concede defeat. Exploding for a four-run fifth inning highlighted by freshman Elise Oldham's two-run double against one of the best pitchers in the conference, the Urban Knights tied the game 6-6 before GCU plated one in the bottom half of the frame to win 7-6.

LOOKING AHEAD
Just one final doubleheader is in ART U's future after Monday. The Urban Knights' five-person senior class will be honored for Senior Day against Notre Dame de Namur at Mission Blue Field on Saturday, Apr. 27. A FAN BUS will be available at the following link: FAN BUS CENTRAL -> Softball