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Photo Gallery (images by Genna Allen, Jayme Stewart, & Rob Garcia)

Brisbane, CA – It was a special moment for Academy of Art University Softball's five seniors prior to their final doubleheader of the season Saturday out at Mission Blue Field. Julie Martin, Alyssa Hickey, Kimberly Dauer, Andrea Hanchey, and Nicole Smith were honored for their collective 19 seasons spent helping build the ART U Softball program all with a warm audience of friends and family. Up against a tough opponent in Notre Dame de Namur, the Urban Knights fought, but fell in both sides of the twinbill with the Argonauts winning game one 6-0 and then following with a 6-1 victory in game two.

“The seniors really set the tone on what this program is about,” co-head coach Randy Ward said. “They've led the freshman on what it means to be an artist-athlete here and I think what they're going to do in the future is going to be tremendous. We can't say enough about them and it was good to be around their friends and family today."

NDNU took a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Mary Ortega got hold of a 1-0 pitch for a two-run homer to left. Dauer (7-16) and Sammy McConvey (15-6), each in their respective final career start, then exchanged a scoreless second inning before Ortega came back for more in the third. With one out and a runner on third, she hit her second two-run home run of the game just fair down the left field line.

The Urban Knights put two on in their half of the third when Martin was hit by a pitch and sophomore Haily MacDonald followed with a single, but McConvey got out of the jam with a strikeout. NDNU scratched across another run in the fourth by capitalizing on an error which allowed an unearned run to score. Dauer still managed to keep any further scoring from taking place and completed the inning which made her the program's all-time innings pitched leader.

“I just think are seniors are really good people and we're fortunate to have walked into this situation,” co-head coach Sami Strinz said. “They're very hard-working and caring people. We couldn't have asked for a better group of seniors to have this year.”

Notre Dame de Namur led 5-0 after four and Dauer exited another jam in the fifth on an attempted steal of home plate in which Hanchey and junior Lauren Stover exchanged throws to get the out. In the bottom of the fifth, the Argos unfortunately mirrored the play at the plate after singles by Smith, Martin, and MacDonald loaded the bases. A fielder's choice on a ball hit by redshirt sophomore Jasmine Dickenson got the out at home and a double play followed to keep the Knights off the scoreboard.

In the end, NDNU added one more run and won the opener 6-0. Dauer's final pitching line of her career saw her throw a complete 7.0 innings with four earned runs allowed on 12 hits with two walks and three strikeouts.


Freshman Shelby Gill (3-9) and Hillary Ruddick (9-3) went toe-to-toe early in game two. After both got through a scoreless first two innings, each gave up a single run in the third. NDNU used a single, two steals, and a sacrifice fly to get its run against Gill while Stover's RBI double plated MacDonald for the Knights. It would have been more than the one run for ART U, but a strong throw from Argos left fielder Sara Montecino ended the frame with an assist to home plate.

A 1-1 game then became 3-1 in favor of the visitors when a two-run error came in the fourth. Notre Dame de Namur backed that up with three more in the fifth on two RBI singles and another error allowed one more to come in.

Although Shelby Gill kept NDNU off the scoreboard for the final two innings, the Urban Knights were unable to capitalize on a situation with two on and two out in the bottom of the seventh. Gill's final start of her freshman season saw her go a complete 7.0 innings with just three earned runs allowed on 11 hits, one walk, and two strikeouts.

With hits in each of Saturday's games (a combined 3-for-8), MacDonald extended her hitting streak to nine games. Sophomore Taylor Thurman continued to wield a hot bat, going 4-for-6 in the doubleheader (giving her a five-game hit streak) while Stover had an RBI double in her 1-for-4 game two. Martin finishes her collegiate career on a three-game hitting streak after she went 1-for-2 in each contest Saturday.

NDNU completes the 2013 regular season with a 34-18 overall record and 23-9 in PacWest action. Saturday, the Argos were offensively by Ortega who was 4-for-7 with two home runs, five RBIs, and three runs scored. McConvey earned her 15th win with a complete game shutout in the first contest (7.0 IP, 6 H, 4 SO) while Ruddick went 7.0 innings of game two, allowing one run on seven hits with eight strikeouts.

The Urban Knights finish their 2013 campaign with a 17-32 overall record and go 13-19 in PacWest play. Coach Ward and Coach Strinz are excited for what the future holds as they begin preparations for 2013-14 this offseason.

“I think we have a good base here and a good concept here at this school,” Coach Ward said. “I don't think there's any reason we can't be more competitive in the future. I think with the seniors leaving and the work ethic they've shown these young kids plus us bringing in more, it's only going to go up from here.”

“We just have a really exciting and unique niche here,” Coach Strinz said. “For these young ladies to come to this school, study their passion for art, and continue their other passion of softball, I just think that's so exciting. I think we've got a bright group of girls returning who are hard-working, have the right attitude, and I just think the future is really bright for us.”