KNIGHT WATCH
Hitting .323 as a team (third in PacWest), ART U remains one of four conference schools now batting over .300. Academy of Art has eight individuals batting over .300 (all among the top 45 in the conference). Eight more extra-base hits against NDNU and Dominican give the Knights 52 in total thus far in 2015. No bat has been hotter than that of senior outfielder Haily MacDonald who hit .714 (15-for-24) last week and at one point registered three hits in four straight games. She is now second only to Azusa Pacific's Nicki Sprague (.459) in the PacWest in batting average (.458) and is riding a nine-game hit streak. With five thus far, MacDonald is already more than halfway to Elyse Cordova's single-season record for three-hit games (nine) and, after scoring 24 times through 23 games, needs 28 runs scored over the final 30 games to surpass Cordova for the career record.

Just a single batting average point apart, senior infielders Taylor Thurman (.351) and Kaymle Glover (.350) add to a dangerous ART U lineup. Thurman is within the PacWest's top 10 with 20 RBIs and Glover is fourth in the conference with eight doubles.  Thurman has five doubles of her own which put her eight from tying Lauren Stover's career record (42). Graduate student catcher Nirana Singh is not far off with a .348 average, four home runs, 18 RBIs, and a team-best .591 slugging percentage (ninth in PacWest).

Junior catcher Elise Oldham is hitting .329 for the year, offering three home runs and 14 RBIs while sophomore infielder Jessica West and freshman outfielder Samantha Klune each share a .309 batting average. Though West's reached base streak ended at a team-best 13 games last Saturday, she has still reached in 20 of 23 games this season. Klune has had at least one hit in 14 of her 18 games played to date.

Named PacWest Newcomer of the Week after tossing her first collegiate shutout, freshman Brenna Mitchell (9-4) is now fourth in the PacWest in strikeouts (49) and seventh in the conference with a 2.38 ERA. Highlighting last week was a stretch where she threw 15.0 consecutive scoreless innings, giving her 88.1 on the year along with nine complete games in 11 starts.

LANCERS LUNGING
At 26-6 overall and 15-3 in PacWest play, California Baptist has been on quite a tear this year. The Lancers have not lost a series, sweeping Cal State San Bernardino, NDNU, BYU-Hawaii, UH Hilo, splitting with Humboldt State and Hawaii Pacific, and taking three of four from Holy Names and Chaminade. CBU has won seven straight coming into this week and 13 of their past 15. A big reason why the Lancers are ranked No. 13 (up from No. 17 in Week 4) is their pitching. California Baptist collectively owns a 1.94 ERA (second in PacWest) with eight shutouts. Both Loie Kesterson (13-4) and Kayla Hatch (13-2) are among the conference's top five in terms of ERA with averages of 1.63 and 2.17 respectively. The top CBU hitter is Jacque Lopez at .394 with 20 RBIs and a .574 slugging percentage. In eight historical meetings, the Lancers hold a 7-1 advantage on ART U.

STORMING THROUGH THE COMPETITION
No. 5 Dixie State has been a juggernaut this season. With only five losses in 30 games played, the Red Storm have rolled ever since the Montana State-Billings Desert Stinger. To that point (Feb. 15), DSU had fallen five times in a seven-game stretch to teams such as Augustana, Western Washington, and Cal State Monterey Bay, but since that time, DSU has won 19 straight, sweeping MSU-Billings, Dominican, BYU-Hawaii, UH Hilo, Chaminade, and Hawaii Pacific. The Red Storm, 16-0 in PacWest, are ranked atop the PacWest in ERA (1.31) with eight shutouts like CBU. Offensively, they are hitting .337 with 177 RBIs and a conference-best 48 doubles. Defensively, the one-two punch of Michelle Duncan (14-0, 0.81 ERA) and Aryn Feickert (10-3, 1.93 ERA) has been particularly formidable and Janessa Bassett (.426 BA) has been an on-base machine (.513 OBP) in addition to leading the PacWest in stolen bases (28) by a healthy margin. The Knights and Red Storm have met 21 times over the years and DSU is up 17-4.

SWORDPLAY
It was a rough beginning to the year for Chaminade who defeated Western Washington, but ended up starting 1-8 before achieving a split with BYU-Hawaii. Arguably the Silverswords' biggest highlight then came on Mar.7 when CUH upset California Baptist 4-3 thanks to a walkoff RBI single by Sierra Mendiola. Five losses have ensued for Chaminade since and they are set to play Faulkner University from Alabama on Mar. 17 then travel to Holy Nasmes (Mar. 20-21) and NDNU (Mar. 23) prior to facing Academy of Art. The Swords are led by Aja Keys (.328 BA, 10 runs scored) and, in the circle, it is Brett Aspel (2-4, 4.17 ERA) who has thrown the majority of the innings. Historically, Academy of Art leads Chaminade 9-5 through 14 meetings.

URBAN KNIGHTS SPLIT A PAIR WITH PENGUINS
Six different pitchers stepped in during a Mar. 14 doubleheader and none allowed more than one earned run in a pair of low-scoring affairs with Academy of Art hosting Dominican at Mission Blue Field. Thurman played a part in each of the Urban Knights four runs scored en route to a 4-1 game one win and Mitchell threw another gem. The second contest, however, went the way of the Penguins with their ace in the circle.

LOOKING AHEAD
After Chaminade early next week, the Urban Knights head back to Turlock for the Tournament of Champions where they will play six non-conference games in three days.