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BRISBANE, Calif. – For four Urban Knights, Saturday was the culmination of four years of hard work and the end result was a memorable one as Academy of Art University Softball swept Notre Dame de Namur 3-0 and 3-1 out at Mission Blue Field. Playing with the memory of fallen teammate Briana Williams in their hearts, the senior class of Haily MacDonald, Kamyle Glover, Jasmine Dickenson, and Taylor Thurman worked hard alongside their fellow Knights while stellar pitching performances from freshman Brenna Mitchell (20-12) and sophomore Alexa Peters (7-10) helped guide ART U to the victories.
"I am very proud of this team," said head coach
Sonja Garnett. "I knew I was taking over some talented athletes, but they have exceeded expectations! This team has been coachable, hard working, competitive, and incredibly passionate. They have earned their wins and their record, and I am glad we ended on such a great day for the seniors!"
GAME ONEStarting after 12:00 PM due to wet field conditions, Academy of Art had the opportunity to honor its senior class prior to first pitch in front of a large crowd of friends and family. The special moment for each individual as well as the sister of Briana Williams, Dekenya, welcomed in what would have been her sister's collegiate finale, provided momentum for the Urban Knights to score right away.
"Our senior ceremony was emotional and celebratory," said Garnett. "It was clear when the seniors showed up today that they were here to end on a positive note. The team was pumped up, loud, and focused."
In the first inning, Glover singled, stole second, and eventually came in on a single by junior catcher
Elise Oldham. After Mitchell retired her sixth in a row in the second, ART U doubled its advantage with a Glover walk followed by two steals and a sacrifice fly from freshman infielder
Samantha Klune.
Mitchell came up against a bases-loaded jam in the fourth, but proceeded to strike out the final two batters in hard-fought at-bats and maintain her shutout. A similar situation materialized in the sixth with runners on second and third yet Mitchell again exited with a strikeout. Finally, the Argos got their leadoff hitter to third in the seventh, but the freshman induced consecutive popups to seal the 3-0 victory.
Mitchell set the program's single-season record with her 20th win on her fourth shutout while allowing just five hits and striking out seven. In the process she also set a new single-season record for innings pitched with 205.2 in total.
GAME TWOAlthough NDNU had two runners reach in the first inning of the season finale, it was Oldham who caught each as they tried to steal and she ended the second frame with her third to set a new program single-game record just two innings in.
Despite the alert defense, NDNU used a double and a RBI single to get on the scoreboard first in the third inning. The lead was short-lived, however, because Academy of Art used its signature approach to score in the bottom half. MacDonald walked, swiped second, then came in on Glover's single, scoring for the 49th time this season to set a new program record.
The Urban Knights were then energized to score following their second triple play of the season in the fourth. With two on, a comebacker to Peters allowed the infield to double up both runners and head to the dugout in an instant. ARTT U patiently worked back-to-back walks in the bottom half before graduate student catcher
Nirana Singh singled one in to give ART U a 2-1 advantage.
After another "Senior Day" connection with Glover driving in MacDonald in the fifth, Peters retired the side in order on 10 pitches in the sixth. She would strike out another in the seventh as she finished the victory by retiring the final eight batters she faced. Peters, like Mitchell, went full 7.0 innings and ended up allowing one run on five hits with three strikeouts in the 3-1 victory.
"Brenna and Alexa threw well," said Garnett. "Brenna was able to keep batters off balance and hit her spots all day. Alexa had an amazing game. She used both corners of the plate and got some big strike outs. They both took advantage of the defense, and Alexa made a lot of big plays herself, including starting the triple play."
On the day, Glover was 3-for-5 with two runs batted in, three stolen bases, and two runs scored while MacDonald finished 2-for-5 with a double, two steals, and two runs scored. MacDonald finishes her career having reached base in 23 consecutive games as well. Singh was 3-for-5 with two RBIs as well as a double and Oldham concluded 2-for-5 with one RBI.
For the 24-19 Notre Dame de Namur Argonauts (18-14 in PacWest), Toni Cardoza had the team's lone RBI, finishing the day 2-for-7.
ART U finishes its first year under Coach Garnett with a 28-26 overall record and an 18-14 PacWest mark. In addition to numerous individual records set, the team tied the program's most conference wins and saw a 12-win improvement from 2013-14. As a result, the Knights achieve their highest PacWest finish, leapfrogging NDNU for the fourth spot.
