TURLOCK, Calif. – Stepping foot into Pedretti Park before more than 25 teams begin Stanislaus State's Tournament of Champions on site, Academy of Art softball took an opportunity to debut its new Strike Out Cancer jerseys in a makeup game against Azusa Pacific on Thursday. A rally in the third inning ended up putting the Cougars past ART U 7-2.

For the Urban Knights, the motivation for the special uniforms was to honor Alex Wilcox, a Mississippi State softball student-athlete who passed away in 2018 after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 2016.

"The significance of recognizing Alex Wilcox tonight was really important to me and the girls," said head coach Alex Gomez. "I have many ties with Mississippi State and I watched the movement that Alex sparked really closely. She truly brought the entire world of softball together because of her willingness to fight. My hope is that this resonates with the team and that they can be inspired by her story."

Dodging a run in the first inning by inducing a popout with a runner on third, junior pitcher Hannah Rose Balke (2-4) came right back with two strikeouts in a three-up, three-down second frame. Though Academy of Art would get a runner into scoring position in the second, the game's first runs were plated in the third on a pair of bases-loaded walks then two run-scoring batted balls for a 5-0 lead.

The Knights responded with a run later in the third after freshman infielder Cassandra Mittman led off with a single, junior infielder Gracie Sotomayor added another, and, with the bases loaded, one came home on a fielding error and it was 5-1 as the fourth inning began.

Following multiple scoreless relief innings from sophomore pitcher Cecilia Lopez (2-3), ART U touched home plate once more on sophomore utility Dominique Seva'aetasi and freshman utility Nikki West's double steal of home and second base. In the final frame, the 5-2 game became a 7-2 advantage for the Cougars after another rally.

ART U, who falls to 5-7 overall and 4-3 in PacWest play, was led by performances from Sotomayor (1-for-2) and Mittman (1-for-3) while Seva'aetasi added two stolen bases and a run scored. Lopez tossed 2.2 innings with two hits and no runs allowed plus one strikeout.

Improving to 13-12 on the year and 10-7 in conference, Azusa Pacific got its best individual offensive performance from Melanie Abzun (2-for-4, triple, three runs batted in). Kat Ung (5-6) did not allow an earned run in her complete 7.0 innings pitched with two hits, five walks, and seven strikeouts as well.

Academy of Art now looks ahead to day one of the Tournament of Champions which will feature an 11:30 a.m. matchup with No. 11 UC San Diego and a 2 p.m. pairing with Central Washington.

"We need to make some major adjustments as hitters and go up there with more situational awareness," said Gomez. "Execution and communication are our two biggest goals going into this weekend. This will be the most softball we have seen this season and we need to band together in order to really bring out the best in each other."