PacWest Release #8 (Mar. 17)
PacWest Release #5 (Feb. 24)
PacWest Release #4 (Feb. 17)
PacWest Release #1 (Jan. 27)
Phoenix, AZ -- Capturing a total of six honors and one Player of the Week selection through the first eight weeks of the Hawaii Tourism Authority Pacific West Conference Fantastic 15, Academy of Art University Softball has displayed its talent both on offense and defense this season. Junior
Lauren Stover earned the fourth PacWest Player of the Week honor in program history for her incredible offensive numbers during the week of Feb. 17 as well as one Fantastic 15 in February, sophomore
Haily MacDonald picked up a total of four Fantastic 15 weekly selections, and senior
Kimberly Dauer pitched her way to one weekly honor as well. The complete set of honors was announced by the PacWest on Monday, April 1 collecting the first eight weeks of the year.
As Academy of Art traveled to Southern California for four games on Feb. 22-23 (two against Azusa Pacific and two against California Baptist), Stover was already wielding a hot bat. Among Stover's two hits in the Azusa Pacific series opener (
Feb. 22) was her fourth double of the year. She then went 1-for-3 with two RBIs and a run scored in game two. Her two-run single helped push across an early 4-0 lead for ART U in that one. Then, up against defending PacWest Champion California Baptist (
Feb. 23), Stover finished game one a perfect 3-for-3 at the plate, but certainly saved her best for last.
Coming up to bat with two on, Stover smashed the Lancers' 2-1 offering over the left field fence for her first home run of the season and a 6-1 advantage for her team. She scored three times and stole a base in addition to the three RBIs in what would become a 10-7 victory for Academy of Art.
“Mentally at the plate, I'm just fearless,” Stover said. “I've really focused on seeing the ball big and only hitting my pitch. The home run was great. She made the mistake so I capitalized and it's always nice to be able to boost the team's momentum.”
Stover led the Urban Knights to a 3-1 roadtrip by hitting .643 in four starts. She went 9-for-14 with four runs scored, a double, a home run, a stolen base, and five runs batted in. She also produced a .929 slugging rate and a .667 on-base mark.
In ART U's first homestand of the season against UH Hilo the week prior (
Feb. 15-16), Stover earned a PacWest Fantastic 15 honor. She led the Urban Knights to a 2-2 week while hitting .462 in four starts. She went 6-for-13 with three runs scored, a double, and two RBIs. She also finished with a .538 slugging mark and a .462 on-base average.
Stover, whose new program record 13-game hitting streak lasted through the two weeks she earned selections, now sports a .364 average with team-highs in doubles (5), home runs (3), and RBIs (16).
One of the most consistent Urban Knights in 2013, MacDonald started the year with her first PacWest Fantastic 15 selection following the opening week of action (Jan. 27). Despite a pair of tough losses to Humboldt State on
Feb. 2, MacDonald hit .333 (2-for-6) with a run, a double, and a .500 slugging rate.
The same week ART U defeated UH Hilo twice for its
home opener, MacDonald hit .467 (7-for-15) and slugged .733 with three RBIs, two triples, two runs scored, and one stolen base, posting three multi-hit performances in four games. She went 2-for-3 in game one, driving in the Knights' first run of the game and later scoring as part of a four-run comeback in the sixth inning which led ART U to its 4-1 win. In game two, MacDonald then hit the pair of triples, allowed just two runs in 4.0 innings, and eventually scored the winning run on a delayed double steal with junior
Elyse Cordova.
During Academy of Art's 3-1 road trip to Southern California, MacDonald batted .571 in four starts (8-for-14) while scoring five runs, taking two walks, and stealing a base. She added a .571 slugging percentage and a .625 on-base mark. The Santa Rosa, CA native highlighted the trip by going 3-for-4 in a game one victory over Azusa Pacific on Feb. 22 then was a perfect 4-for-4 in the Feb. 23 finale against California Baptist. MacDonald scored three times in the inspired 10-7 win.
More recently for the week of Mar. 17 where ART U was at Dixie State (Mar. 18-19) and came back to split with Notre Dame de Namur (
Mar. 23), the sophomore hit .412 (7-of-17) in six starts with three runs scored, two triples, four walks, two RBIs, and a stolen base. She had a .647 slugging percentage and a .555 on-base mark. She reached base safely in all four games in St. George, UT then returned to the Bay Area to go 4-for-7 against the Argos, knocking a key RBI triple to help Academy of Art eventually earn its 6-3 win in game one.
MacDonald now leads all Urban Knights with a .368 batting average to go with 20 runs scored and 10 walks (both team-highs). After none in 2012, MacDonald now has four triples to lead the team (3rd in PacWest, one from
Ashley Lokey's ART U single-season record).
Doing a little bit of everything the week of Feb. 24 when Academy of Art swept Dominican in two games at Mission Blue Field, Dauer notched both a victory and a save in the
Mar. 2 doubleheader. Game one belonged to the Los Osos, CA native as she tossed a complete-game 3-0 shutout, allowing just four hits and two walks with six strikeouts. She retired eight consecutive Penguins at one point in the victory.
In game two, Dauer was called upon in a critical situation late in the game as the Knights held a one-run lead. Coming in to strike out the one and only batter she faced, Dauer posted a save to effectively preserve MacDonald's third win of the season.
Through 14 starts as a senior, Dauer offers a 3.81 ERA with 56 strikeouts in 90.0 innings pitched. She has all 10 of Academy of Art's complete games.
Now approaching the ninth week of the season, MacDonald has four weekly Fantastic 15 honors this year and five for her career. Stover adds selections five and six to her career total while Dauer now boasts five weekly honors in her ART U career.
