Facing two teams undefeated in the Tournament of Champions thus far, Academy of Art University softball took a pair of losses on Saturday, falling to Western Oregon 7-3 and Central Washington 9-1 in five innings out at Pedretti Park.
GAME 1 – WOU 7, ART U 3
After two singles and a double steal attempt earned Western Oregon a run in the first inning, a Chandler Bishop solo homer doubled that score in the second. A quiet third gave way to the Urban Knights' first major scoring opportunity with the bases loaded in the fourth, but WOU ended up exiting unscathed.
A three-run rally in the fourth made it a 5-0 advantage for the Wolves, however, Academy of Art still showed fight, putting three of their own on the board in the sixth. Senior outfielder
Jessica West led off the surge with a double and freshman infielder
Freddie Carrillo followed with a bunt single to bring her hit streak to 13 games (it would end in the day's finale).
Sophomore infielder
Brenna Youngquist provided the first run after reaching on an error, redshirt freshman catcher
Adrianna Rupright added another run with a single, and freshman outfielder
Gabi Hirsch drove in the third on a groundout. Despite the breakthrough, Western Oregon came back with two in their half of the sixth and went on to win 7-3.
GAME 2 – CWU 9, ART U 1 (5)
A two-run homer by Kailyn Campbell, the game's second batter, immediately thrust Central Washington ahead and the Wildcats would proceed to score at least one run in every inning thereafter. Sammy Morris highlighted the third with a two-run double and by the fourth, it was an 8-0 lead for CWU.
In the bottom half of that inning, the Knights plated their first run after a leadoff single, a stolen base, and Youngquist's single. A sacrifice fly in the fifth pushed Central Washington back up 9-1, however, and despite sophomore utility
Katie Tablada's first hit in a pinch-hit appearance, her first at-bat of the year, ART U would take the 9-1 loss.
Academy of Art is now 16-20 overall this season with 14 games remaining on the schedule. West was 2-for-3 with her team-best 10th double of the year (now third in the PacWest Conference) in the first contest, Youngquist drove in one run in each game, and freshman utility
Dominique Seva'aetasi. Rupright and Hirsch each had solo RBIs in the first game.
Western Oregon rose to 13-11 with the victory while Central Washington picked up its 15th consecutive win and is now 22-5 on the season.
The Urban Knights will be at Stanislaus State's Warriors Softball Field tomorrow on their final day of the Tournament of Champions. Montana State Billings will be ART U's first opponent at 9 a.m. followed by No. 15 Cal State Monterey Bay at 11:30 a.m.
