It was the start of a new era for Academy of Art University Softball as co-head coaches Sami Strinz and Randy Ward took the program's reigns this past season. Highlights from the campaign included a pair of games won on a steal of home, a walk-off victory to finish the Tournament of Champions, and the celebration of five seniors who helped pioneer the program. As a testament to the Urban Knights' fight throughout 2013, roughly one third of their games were settled by just a single run.

"This past year can be summed up by calling it the beginning of a new evolution," Coach Strinz said. "Anytime student-athletes experience a coaching change, they have to learn next expectations and standards to understand, adopt, and live by. This year was 'step one' in the evolution. We were so happy with the group of artist-athletes that we adopted. We couldn't have hand picked a better group of loving and passionate people. They are very capable softball players and we believe they are getting to the point where they are finally letting themselves love the game and play."

ART U started its 2013 campaign by facing a pair of California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) opponents, Humboldt State and Sonoma State, in early February. Highlights from those series included two solid starts by senior Kimberly Dauer with the second an impressive pitchers' duel against one of the game's most dominant hurlers in SSU's Samantha Lipperd. Despite one-run losses in each of these contests, the Urban Knights would soon taste victory as they headed into their first tournament of the year, The Montana State-Billings Desert Stinger.

In Las Vegas, Academy of Art pulled off an impressive comeback via a six-run sixth inning to best Central Washington 8-7 for the year's first triumph. The Knights played five games in three days during that span and dominated Black Hills State (S.D.) 11-2 for another win on Feb. 9.

Back in the Bay Area for its home opener and PacWest Conference opener at Mission Blue Field, ART U put on a show. The Knights began a doubleheader with UH Hilo by using another strong performance from Dauer (7.0 IP, 2 H, R, 7 K) and a four-run rally in the sixth to win 4-1. Extra innings were necessary in the second contest with the Vulcans as a 3-3 tie was finally broken up by sophomore Haily MacDonald triple and a delayed double steal off an intentional walk to junior Elyse Cordova. That dramatic turn of events in the ninth inning led ART U to its 4-3 win.

UH Hilo responded with a pair of wins the following day, but Academy of Art made it four wins in six games when they topped Azusa Pacific in a Feb. 22 doubleheader. The theme of delayed double steals began to surface as this time senior Julie Martin swiped home plate for the 3-2 victory once again in the ninth. After Dauer's dominant 9.0 innings in game one, MacDonald combined with sophomore Kristin Valdivia to get the Knights a 4-3 win in the nightcap.

One day later at California Baptist, ART U knocked off the defending PacWest champions 10-7, closing out their roadtrip to Southern California with a 3-1 record. In that game, junior Lauren Stover smashed a three-run homer and senior Andrea Hanchey then put her team up for good with a clutch grand slam in the sixth.

"At the time when we were really rolling [at Azusa and California Baptist], we were playing fearlessly and fighting tooth and nail to win those battles. That was a lot of fun to see and be a part of," Coach Strinz said. "As it all too often happens, injuries hurt us a bit, but I felt that the team did the best that they could to overcome the injury adversity."

The Urban Knights made it seven wins in a 10-game stretch after sweeping Dominican 3-0 and 8-7 in their return home on Mar. 2. Dauer dominated once again by throwing a four-hit shutout with six strikeouts in the opener. Another sixth inning offensive explosion then came in game two with seven different ART U players recording an RBI in that frame alone.

"Because of the time in which we got hired, we really didn't get an opportunity to play together or learn in-game situations together until we began our non-conference season in February," Coach Strinz said. "We took some lumps, then learned from those and rode some momentum as we had a real nice stretch there at the beginning of our conference season."

After Dominican, Academy of Art endured a tough road trip that sweeps by both Holy Names and Dixie State. However, the Knights bounced back to beat Notre Dame de Namur 6-3 on Mar. 23 behind steady offense and Dauer's complete game in the circle. Both Cal State East Bay and Chaminade got the better of ART U leading up to the Cal State Stanislaus Tournament of Champions in early April.

That stretch of six games in three days began with the rare tripleheader (Apr. 5) that featured Western Washington, a rematch with Azusa Pacific, and a matchup against Montana State-Billings. The first two contests went the way of their opponent, but Academy of Art pushed past the Yellowjackets for a 5-1 win in the finale which finished mere minutes before midnight.

Finishing off the Tournament of Champions, Academy of Art found itself in three games that were each decided by one run or less. A 7-6 loss to Saint Martin's in eight innings was followed by a 4-3 revenge win for Central Washington, but the tournament concluded on a positive note as ART U executed a 4-3 walk-off win versus Notre Dame de Namur in the Platinum Bracket thanks to late clutch hits from freshman Andrea Gill, MacDonald, and Stover.

"I love watching this team compete when they play free and fearlessly!" Coach Strinz said. "We fought a lot of close battles this year and I think next year will see a similar amount of close games - the difference being I can all but guarantee that we will win those close battles. I believe we gained a tremendous amount of experience and really learned what it takes to fight and win. We learned that the difference between us winning those battles or losing them came down to the ladies allowing themselves the freedom to just play. Our team is at their best when they are playing with a playground type mentality."

Late in the year, the Knights split with Dominican and fell twice to Grand Canyon (despite a valiant comeback) to conclude their road games for the season. ART U then hosted four teams and eight games in its finale. Hawaii Pacific took a pair, but Academy of Art bounced back by shutting down Holy Names 1-0 and 5-1 in a doubleheader. MacDonald delivered the fourth shutout of her career in the opener while freshman Shelby Gill was strong in the nightcap.

Next in a sweep of BYU-Hawaii, sophomore Taylor Thurman was absolutely on fire at the plate. She went 6-for-6 on the day while batting seven in, doubling three times, and homering for the first time in 2013. The decisive 6-2 and 8-5 final scores helped give ART U eight victories at home. Concluding the year with meetings four and five against NDNU, the Knights fought, but the Argonauts came away with the final two wins.

"Our team is a very caring group of people and, at times this season, that was our pitfall," Coach Strinz said. "When pressure came, they wanted so badly to succeed for their teammates that they often put too much pressure on themselves. We are hopefully cultivating an environment where they will just play free as we continue the evolution moving forward."

Although the last games didn't go the way they wanted, Apr. 27 was more about the celebration of five ART U seniors who had been so dedicated to the program over the past four years. Julie Martin, Alyssa Hickey, Kimberly Dauer, Andrea Hanchey, and Nicole Smith tirelessly helped build Urban Knights Softball into a work of art as leaders on and off the field.

"This year's senior class was a great example of what an artist-athlete should be," Coach Ward said. "They had been here for four years and had learned what it means to be successful in this environment. They came to practice every day with a work ethic that carried over to the classroom and studios. They left a legacy of the right way to approach this type of university. We expect to hear of their successes in next few years and we expect our two seniors next year to continue the example this year's class has set."

Though the team will be without its five seniors from 2013, ART U's incredibly productive top of the lineup will return for 2014. MacDonald, who earned All-PacWest Third Team honors at the season's end, led the way with a .353 batting average to go with 34 runs scored, four triples, and 13 stolen bases. She was regularly supported by the junior tandem of Stover and Cordova who hit .345 and .342 respectively while combining for 56 runs scored, 18 doubles, 41 runs batted in, and 13 steals.

"Haily MacDonald, Lauren Stover, Elyse Cordova were definitely the core of our offense," Coach Ward said. "Their athletic ability left our opponents a tough choice on how to pitch to them. When they played fearlessly, our team was unstoppable. We look for them to play with that kind of confidence more often next season which in turn should set the example for the rest of the team."

With a year under Coach Strinz and Coach Ward's belt and exciting young talent poised to fill the holes left by such a large senior class, Academy of Art Softball has much to look forward to in 2014.

"We believe the future is bright for Urban Knight softball," Coach Ward said. "We believe the hard lessons learned from this season will make us stronger for the future. We believe the underclassmen and the incoming freshman have the ability to compete and be successful in the PacWest Conference. They will only reach their potential if they follow the example set by this year's senior artist-athletes and accept the leadership Stover, Cordova, and MacDonald will provide them."