BRISBANE, Calif. – Academy of Art University softball had leads in 10 of its 14 innings played against Northwest Nazarene out at Mission Blue Field on Saturday, earning its first home win of the season with a 6-5 game one before falling 5-4 in the seventh inning of the finale. Consistent hitting from junior outfielder
Jessica West, clutch offense by freshman infielder
Brenna Youngquist, and home runs by freshman infielder
Katie Tablada and junior outfielder
Hallie Curtis all mixed with stellar pitching performances by sophomore
Brenna Mitchell (2-2) and freshman
True Park (0-0) in a day of highlights.
GAME ONE
Though ART U left runners stranded at third base in the first two innings, the third time would be the charm as Youngquist delivered one on a single in the third inning. Mitchell had been on quite a roll to that point, having struck out two batters in each of those first three innings, but NNU got two in on an Ali Schauer double in the fourth.
Two errors mixed with a single by Curtis in the Knights' fourth to start a four-run rally that culminated with Youngquist's two run double. Now up 5-2, ART U had to weather another storm in the fifth when a sacrifice fly and Kiahna Brown's run-scoring single shortened the gap to a single run.
The sixth inning saw Academy of Art push across what would prove to be a crucial insurance run when West doubled home senior outfielder
Andrea Gill. As the Knights looked to close out the Crusaders in the seventh, Mitchell was once more called upon to pitch in a 6-5 game. She induced a fly ball to left that West and senior catcher
Elise Oldham turned into an exciting double play then got the final out for the victory.
GAME TWO
The freshmen were among the highlights after a short break. In the first inning, Tablada got the Knights started with her first collegiate hit a two-run home run to left center. That 2-0 lead held tough over the next three innings as Park twirled four no-hit innings to begin her second collegiate start. She retired 12 of the first 13 batters she faced, striking out three in the process.
NNU made its move in the fifth with an error magnified by a run-scoring single then plated two more in the sixth on a pair of solo homers. That inning had its share of long balls with Curtis blasting a two-run shot to see-saw the lead back to Academy of Art 4-3. In the seventh inning, however, Cassidy Fifield answered with her own two-run homer and the end result was a 5-4 win Crusader victory.
Academy of Art exits Saturday with a 2-5-1 overall record after strong pitching performances by Mitchell (one earned run allowed with eight strikeouts in 6.0 innings) and Park (one earned run allowed with three strikeouts in 5.1 innings). Offensively, West was 4-for-4 with a double and two runs scored in the first game while Youngquist added a 2-for-3 opener that included three runs batted in. Tablada and Curtis each hit home runs and collectively drove in four in game two.
Northwest Nazarene is 4-5 overall following the split which featured a 3-for-8 day, a home run, and two runs batted in from Kylie Orr, a 4-for-8 collective performance by Lily Paschal, and the first win of the season for Brooke Bonsen (1-2) in the circle after her complete 7.0 innings thrown in game two with four runs allowed and six strikeouts.
The busy weekend for ART U continues with two more games tomorrow at San Francisco State. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for noon at SFSU's softball field.
