TUCSON, Ariz. – Academy of Art University faced a tall order on the second day of the Cactus Classic, going up against two teams that were a combined 25-2 coming into Saturday. Challenging their highest-ranked opponent to date in the opener, ART U scored five runs on seven hits against No. 2 West Texas A&M, but could not complete the comeback against a pair of four-run innings by the Lady Buffs who won 9-5. Game two saw Lubbock Christian score all of their 13 runs in the first and fourth innings of what became a five-inning 13-4 end result.
"In this game every pitch matters," said head coach
Sonja Garnett. "You can't take an inning off and you can't waste opportunities. That is what hurt us today. I expect our team to take those thorns and turn them into roses."
GAME 1 – WT 9, ART U 5
West Texas A&M lived up to the hype almost immediately with three hits producing four runs in the first inning. Unfazed by their opponent, the Urban Knights went right after starter Kilee Halbert (7-0) with a walk, a single, and junior infielder
Samantha Klune's run-scoring single to left in the bottom of the first. Sophomore infielder
Brenna Youngquist followed that up with a RBI groundout and ART U had halved their deficit 4-2.
After sophomore starting pitcher
True Park (1-2) struck out the final batter of a scoreless second inning, WT responded with another offensive barrage in the third. Two doubles and a two-run homer Brittany Cruz put the designated visiting team up 8-2 when the dust had settled. Klune delivered again later that inning after freshmen infielders
Gracie Sotomayor and
Freddie Carrillo worked to set the table, but that lone run was matched by the Lady Buffs in the fourth on another double.
ART U's offense continued to thrive, however, putting two more on the board in the fourth by way of freshman outfielder
Gabi Hirsch's triple and a throwing error by the WT catcher. The teams combined for just four hits in the fifth through the seventh innings as senior pitcher
Alexa Peters (1-1) came in to duel with Halbert. In the end, West Texas A&M exited with their 13th straight victory, winning 9-5.
"I thought our team fought well against west Texas A&M," said Garnett. "We played hard until the end and had some outstanding performances, both defensively and at the plate. A few small lapses in focus cost us that one, but we had some big takeaways."
GAME 2 – LCU 13, ART U 4 (5)
Carrillo doubled in the first inning against Lubbock Christian, but it was the Lady Chaps who struck first in the bottom of that frame with a five-run surge keyed by three hits and an error. Much like the first game, however, Academy of Art provided an immediate rebuttal with four straight singles to lead off the second. Senior outfielder
Hallie Curtis drove in the first at the end of that chain and Sotomayor later plated another with the Knights' fifth hit of the inning.
LCU's 5-2 advantage maintained until the bottom of the fourth when two doubles led off what became an eight-run inning for the Lady Chaps. Much of the scoring occurred with two outs and, by the end, the score favored Lubbock Christian 13-2. Academy of Art did not go so easily with senior outfielder
Jessica West doubling home two in the fifth before LCU prevailed 13-4.
ART U returns to a .500 record (5-5) with the day's results. Sotomayor upped her hit streak to nine games with a 3-for-6 day that included one run batted in. Klune had two RBIs as part of her 2-for-4 opener while West plated a pair with her fourth double this season and went 2-for-3 in game two. Hirsch was 1-for-4 with the Knights' fourth triple of the year in the first game and Peters finished with just one run allowed in 3.0 innings in that same contest.
Due to inclement weather postponing today's game between Lubbock Christian and Fort Lewis, Academy of Art will now play University of Mary in a doubleheader to close out the Cactus Classic tomorrow. Times will remain the same as they were previously with the opener at 11:30 a.m. MT (10:30 a.m. PT) and 2 p.m. (1 p.m. PT). The Marauders fell to No. 23 Dixie State 9-5 and Lincoln Memorial 13-3 in five innings on Saturday, dropping their record to 1-8.
"Results are great, but process is powerful," said Garnett. "Tomorrow we need to take advantage of each pitch on both sides of the plate and get better. If we do that, the results will take care of themselves."
