GAME 1 – ART U 4, DOMINICAN 3
To start the day, the Penguins got on the board first with three walks and an illegal pitch, but Balke would strike out the final two batters of the opening inning to limit the damage. Academy of Art came right back and tied things up 1-1 with a run-scoring double off the bat of senior outfielder Jessica West in the bottom of the first.

After Dominican struck for another in the third on Karitza Reyes' run-scoring bunt, Balke and the ART U defense combined to post three straight scoreless frames then a two-run rally came for the Knights in the sixth. With the bases loaded, sophomore infielder Brenna Youngquist brought both runs home on a single, shifting the game to a 3-2 Academy of Art lead.

Clutch hitting by the Penguins earned them the tying run in the seventh and, though the Knights had two on in the seventh, their walkoff had to wait until the ninth. After Balke completed her 166th pitch in the top half of the inning, sophomore catcher Taylor Ah Mook Sang led off with a walk, sophomore infielder Juliana Lopez singled, and soon Sotomayor delivered the game's final run on a double in the left centerfield gap, pushing her team ahead 4-3.

GAME 2 – ART U 3, DOMINICAN 4
Although both teams put runners in scoring position in the first inning of game two, it was not until the bottom of the second that a run came on the board. After junior infielder Samantha Klune led off with a double, two groundouts put her in position to score on Lopez's single up the middle. Like the first game, however, that initial lead was short-lived as Dominican came right back with a Katelyn Harden run-scoring single in the third.

The 1-1 tie was broken in the fourth when Youngquist's two-out double was added to with a single from redshirt freshman catcher Adrianna Rupright plus a fielding error for a 2-1 ART U advantage. Sophomore starter True Park (1-3) continued to roll through the Penguins, but even though Klune's run-scoring single in the sixth made it 3-1, Dominican saved a rally for the seventh.

Three hits produced three runs in that frame highlighted by two plated on Keely Bowlan's double against Balke who had entered in relief. The 4-3 score would hold up for the Penguins' first win in eight tries this season.

Following the day's results, ART U is now 7-7 overall and 1-1 in conference play. Five different Knights drove in runs on Thursday, led by two from Youngquist (2-for-6) in game one, then one apiece for Klune (3-for-7), Lopez (2-for-6), West (2-for-4), and Sotomayor (2-for-9). West stole her fifth base of the season and Carrillo pushed her current hit streak to eight games with a 3-for-7 day. Balke's 9.0 innings pitched in the opener were tied for the second-most in program history.

Dominican moves to 1-7 on the year and 1-1 in PacWest play as well. Bowlan and Katelyn Harden combined to go 4-for-7 with four runs batted in in game two. Harden also factored in both of the day's decisions, taking a loss with one run allowed in 2.2 relief innings of the opener then two runs allowed in a complete 7.0 innings pitched of the finale.

With its games at No. 1 Humboldt State canceled (originally scheduled for this Monday, Feb. 27), Academy of Art will now look ahead to next weekend with BYU-Hawaii (Mar. 4) and Notre Dame de Namur (Mar. 5) at Mission Blue on back-to-back days.