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Box Score 2
BRISBANE, Calif. – Hosting Cal State Stanislaus as a makeup for the weekend rainout, Academy of Art University Softball earned a split in ART U's first home games of 2015 on Tuesday afternoon. A beautiful day out at Mission Blue Field was the backdrop for a tough 6-0 loss in the opener, but then a 5-3 Urban Knights' victory followed. Sophomore outfielder Jessica West delivered a pair of run-scoring hits while freshman pitcher Brenna Mitchell (2-1) came in for her second relief win of the year with 2.2 scoreless innings in the circle.
The Warriors took an early 2-0 lead, scoring a run on a groundout and one on an error in the first inning. However, Mitchell made short work of her CCAA opponent in the second inning by striking out the first two batters and following that up with a lineout. ART U put two runners on in each of the first two innings, but could not score and Stanislaus added to its lead with two more unearned runs in the third following an outfield error.
The visitors' advantage became 6-0 in the fourth after steals and an unfortunate third error proved costly. Mitchell held the margin there in the seventh, exiting a bases-loaded jam with her third strikeout, but the Warriors' Jessica Varady (1-1) finished off the complete game shutout in the final frame.
In the second start of the year for
Alexa Peters (0-1) in game two, Stanislaus put together a rally in the first as the sophomore induced an inning-ending double play to get out with only a single run allowed. The second inning saw Academy of Art put together three hits, senior infielder
Jasmine Dickenson's double, freshman outfielder
Samantha Klune's single, and sophomore infielder
Jessica West's RBI single, to tie the game 1-1.
A quiet third inning gave way to yet another clutch hit by West in the Knights' bottom half as she slammed a RBI double into left to score sophomore outfielder
Hallie Curtis who had reached on junior catcher
Elise Oldham's walk to start the inning. ART U's 2-1 lead did not last, however, because wild pitches led to two more runs for the Warriors in the fifth.
Back-to-back doubles by senior outfielder
Haily MacDonald and senior infielder
Kamyle Glover soon tied the game 3-3 in the bottom of the fifth then Dickenson continued the senior rally with a RBI single to put her team up 4-3. After relieving Peters in the fifth, Mitchell kept Stanislaus off the scoreboard in the sixth before Academy of Art plated one more on a MacDonald sacrifice fly in the sixth for insurance. Mitchell dramatically finished off the 5-3 win by striking out the would-be go-ahead run at the plate.
The Urban Knights are now 2-2 on the season and were led by a pair of RBIs on a 2-for-2 game two from West. Dickenson added an RBI with her 2-for-3 performance in that one and it was the senior tandem of MacDonald and Glover who added run-producing hits as well. MacDonald now owns a four-game hitting streak while Glover joins Klune and graduate student
Nirana Singh with a hit in each of their last three. Mitchell finished the day with just a single earned run allowed in 9.0 combined innings pitched, giving her a 1.09 earned run average through her first 19.1 innings of her collegiate career.
Stanislaus moves to 2-2 as well and had a memorable 4-for-4 game one for Morgan Balestreri while Varady finished that win with no runs allowed on six hits and four strikeouts through 7.0 innings pitched.
Academy of Art turns around and plays a single game on Wednesday, Feb. 11 at San Francisco State. First pitch is set for 9:00 AM.
