Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

San Leandro, CA – Riding the wave of some high-scoring games in Hawaii, Academy of Art University Softball rallied many times Friday, tallying nearly 30 hits in a doubleheader sweep at Holy Names. ART U got ahead early in the opener with a pair of three-run surges in the first four innings en route to an 8-1 victory. Then, a four-run third in the finale helped the Urban Knights wrap up a 6-2 win. Along with the offense, solid pitching from starters Carlee Emerson and Jill Johnson in addition to reliever Alexa Peters held the Hawks to only a single earned run on the day.

"Our pitchers did a good job overall of working the hitters' knees and the corners of the plate," co-head coach Sami Strinz said. "That's our pitching motto: 'Corners and knees.' Our defense did their great job behind our pitchers which takes the load off of their shoulders."

Academy of Art went right to work in game one, using three straight singles by Kamyle Glover, Elyse Cordova, and Taylor Thurman to score one run in the first. The Knights backed that up in the second when Jessica West turned a single into a run on a fielding error then Jasmine Dickenson's single brought in Haily MacDonald and Cordova returned the favor for Dickenson with another single.

Supported by a 4-0 lead, Emerson continued to work with her defense to get outs as just two hits were allowed in the first three innings. The fourth saw another rally by ART U as MacDonald used her speed to get to third and scored on a passed ball. That soon sparked back-to-back run-scoring hits first off Thurman's bat and then from Elise Oldham. Thurman plated Glover with a single and Oldham followed by clearing the bases with her first triple of the year.

Holy Names threatened with a runner in scoring position in the fourth, but Emerson bounced back after inducing a ground ball to exit the frame and promptly retired three Hawks on four pitches in the fifth. Cordova led off the sixth with a double and, though she was later tagged out at the plate, ART U still scored once in the inning on a Lauren Stover sacrifice fly.

HNU managed to avoid the shutout with a run in the sixth, which came in unearned due to a fielding error, but remained quiet in the seventh as Emerson finished off her complete game for the 8-1 win. The freshman would collect her third victory after just seven hits allowed and no earned runs crossing home plate.


Game two began as a pitchers' duel as Jill Johnson (5-7) and Nicole Ochoa each allowed a hit in a scoreless first inning then retired the side in order in the second. Academy of Art broke through in the third, however, when a two-run double by Glover cashed in Alexandra "Lexie" Hernandez and MacDonald. That hit was followed up by a double from Cordova to put two in scoring position for Thurman who brought one in on a sacrifice fly. Oldham promptly singled in the other and it was 4-0 Knights.

The Hawks made a comeback attempt in their half, but despite a similar situation with two in scoring position, Johnson got the final batter to pop out into her own glove. In the fourth, Holy Names did plate one unearned run on a fielding error though that was soon nullified with the two-run fifth for ART U. Stover came through with a clutch two-run single and it was 6-1 Academy of Art.

After HNU scored another in the sixth, the Knights went to their bullpen, bringing in Alexa Peters who got five straight outs to wrap up the 6-2 victory for her team. Johnson would go 5.1 innings with one earned run allowed on seven hits and two strikeouts in the win. Peters threw a spotless 1.2 innings with one strikeout.

Academy of Art rises to 9-15 overall and an even 7-7 in PacWest play with the sweep. On the day, Glover went 6-for-7, increasing her batting average to .457 (now third in the PacWest) and upping her current hitting streak to eight contests. She added four runs scored, a double, and two RBIs

"Kamyle has grown a lot from last season," Coach Ward said. "She has stayed confident for the entire year and the results show that. She was patient and put good swings on pitches she could drive for a successful day today."

Thurman increased her own hitting streak to eight games with a 4-for-7 day that included three RBIs and two runs scored. She now has an impressive stretch of six consecutive games with at least one RBI. Additionally, Cordova went 5-for-8 with a double in each game, giving her four doubles in her last six games. Oldham was 4-for-8 with the triple and two RBIs while MacDonald finished the day 4-for-5 with three runs scored and two steals. Stover had three RBIs in the twinbill as well.

For Holy Names, now 11-28 overall and 4-14 in PacWest play, Deni Yandell went 3-for-5 with the team's lone RBI in the doubleheader. Kayla Simonson (2-5) was charged with the loss in game one after surrendering seven runs on 11 hits across 4.0 innings pitched. In game two, Nicole Ochoa fell to 3-8 after going 2.2 innings with four runs allowed on five hits.

With the postponement of tomorrow's doubleheader against Notre Dame de Namur, ART U's next stop will be the annual Tournament of Champions hosted by Cal State Stanislaus on Apr. 4-6.

"We are looking forward to the Tournament of Champions because it provides us a great opportunity to see a couple teams that we haven't seen in Northwest Nazarene and San Bernardino," Coach Strinz said. "We also get another crack at Sonoma State, Monterey Bay and SF State. I hope our bats stay hot and our pitching continues to get the job done."