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Box Score 2
BRISBANE, Calif. – Hosting UH Hilo on a windy day out at Mission Blue Field, Academy of Art University Softball split with the Vulcans in Pacific West Conference play on Tuesday. The Urban Knights rallied for four runs in the fifth inning of game one to come from behind in a 4-2 victory. In game two, early offense from both sides carried through to a 9-8 win for the visitors. Sophomore outfielder Jessica West broke the game one tie with a key hit and senior outfielder Haily MacDonald set multiple records in the finale, becoming the program's leader in both steals for a single season and career triples.
GAME ONEIt was the Vulcans who scored first in the opener after a bases loaded walk in the second inning then a solo home run by starting pitcher Vanessa Salinas (14-8) in the fourth. Salinas was sharp in the circle as well, opening her start with a perfect three innings. Senior infielder
Kamyle Glover broke things up with a single in the fourth and it was a sign of things to come as ART U rallied in the fifth.
Senior infielder
Taylor Thurman led off with a single and freshman infielder
Samantha Klune backed her up with a double to get Academy of Art on the scoreboard. Two outs later, sophomore outfielder
Hallie Curtis plated Klune on a single to shallow center, effectively tying the game. The Knights soon loaded the bases to set up a clutch two-run single by West for the 4-2 lead.
ART U starter freshman
Brenna Mitchell (13-10) had found her rhythm in the fifth and proceeded to work with the Academy of Art defense to retire the final nine batters and preserve the win. Mitchell finished her 13th complete game with two runs allowed on just four hits and five strikeouts, moving into a tie with Sierrah Garcia (2010) for second on the program's single-season pitcher wins list.
GAME TWOBoth offenses put up crooked numbers to start the day's second game. UH Hilo started by rallying for three runs on two hits and an error before Academy of Art went to work in the bottom of the first. MacDonald started by hitting an infield single and stealing the base that would give her the new single-season program record, passing Melissa Coe's 21 steals back in 2010.
Glover doubled in MacDonald then junior catcher
Elise Oldham sent a single up the middle to score her teammate. Klune beat out an infield single to third and an ensuing error allowed the Knights to tie the contest 3-3. One batter later, graduate student catcher
Nirana Singh put ART U on top 4-3 with a RBI groundout.
Oldham began the third inning with her team-leading sixth home run of the season, a solo shot, to push the lead to 5-3. The fourth saw unearned runs four, five, and six come in after two errors let the Vulcans get up 6-5. That margin was very brief, however, because MacDonald smacked a two-out triple down the right side of the field and capitalized on a throwing error by the right fielder to come all the way around and score the tying run of a 6-6 game. MacDonald's second triple of the year put her #1 in career triples with eight after having tied
Elyse Cordova's previously.
Each team had a chance to break the tie in the fifth, but it was a three-run homer off the bat of Brandi Wilson in the sixth that shot UH Hilo ahead 9-6. It was not a shutdown inning for the Vulcans as three consecutive singles, highlighted by run-scoring hits from Oldham and Thurman, brought ART U back to within one run, 9-8. Sophomore
Alexa Peters (4-9) allowed just two earned runs on seven hits in her 5.0 innings of work.
The Knights are now 18-22 overall and remain at .500 in PacWest play (10-10). MacDonald went 3-for-7 on the day, pushing her hitting streak to nine games while setting the aforementioned single-season steals record (22) and career triples record (8). West drove in two as part of a 1-for-3 first game while Oldham's homer and three RBIs highlighted her 3-for-4 game two performance. Glover walked three times and scored twice in a 1-for-1 outing in the second contest and Thurman (3-for-7 on the day) now carries a seven-game hitting streak.
UH Hilo is now 23-15 overall and 12-9 in PacWest action after home runs by Salinas and Brandi Wilson (combined 5-for-9 with four RBIs on day) highlighted the afternoon. Though she picked up the win, Danielle Wilson (9-6) allowed eight runs on 12 hits with four strikeouts.
Academy of Art heads across the bay to San Rafael for a PacWest rematch with Dominican this Saturday, Apr. 4 starting 12:00 p.m. at the new Penguin Field.
