KANEOHOE, Hawaii – One day removed from executing a dominant sweep of Hawaii Pacific, the Urban Knights found themselves on the wrong side of a pair of 3-1 scores at Howard A. Okita Field on Wednesday. Academy of Art engineered threats to come back in each game's final inning, but the Sharks held on each time.

"It is very difficult to play the same team four times," said head coach Alex Gomez. "Hawaii Pacific's hitters made adjustments and ours didn't. We went from one of our biggest hitting days to only having six hits on the day. We just did not produce offensively to give our pitchers a chance to breathe."

GAME 1 – HPU 3, ART U 1
Unlike the previous day, it was the Sharks who scored first, doing so with a triple and a single in the opening inning. That 1-0 lead became 2-0 in the second when a stolen base was bookended by infield singles.

Junior starting pitcher Hannah Rose Balke (5-8) and the Academy of Art defense kept HPU off the scoreboard for the next two innings, but a double and a single produced one more run for the home team in the fifth. That was answered by ART U in the sixth when the table was set by a junior infielder Gracie Sotomayor walk and junior outfielder Gabi Hirsch bunt single. A double steal attempt that forced a throwing error from the catcher got the Knights on the scoreboard in a 3-1 game.

Academy of Art did not go without one final comeback attempt as freshman infielder Cassandra Mittman drew a one-out walk and sophomore pitcher Cecilia Lopez (7-4) added a pinch-hit single to bring the go-ahead run to the plate. Hawaii Pacific, however, would get the final two outs to complete their 3-1 victory.

GAME 2 – HPU 3, ART U 1
Making a move with two outs in the first inning, the Knights got a single from sophomore catcher Lauryn Henderson then senior infielder Brenna Youngquist poked a ball into shallow right where the second baseman could not make a play and the error gave ART U a 1-0 lead.

The game became a pitcher's duel thereafter with Lopez retiring the first nine batters she faced. The fourth inning proved to be a problem, however, as four hits mixed with two errors to give the Sharks a 3-1 advantage. In the final frame, senior utility Katie Tablada reached base for the second time after working a two-out walk, setting up the potential tying run stepping to the plate, but HPU induced the last out for another 3-1 result.

With the day's results, Academy of Art moves to 13-12 overall and 9-6 in conference play. Henderson extended her current hit streak to 13 games after going 2-for-6 with a stolen base in the twinbill. Tablada finished 1-for-2 and Lopez picked up her first hit of the season in a 1-for-3 performance. Lopez did not allow an earned run in her 4.0 innings of work and freshman pitcher Haley Arnold-Jolley provided two scoreless innings in relief with just two hits allowed.

Hawaii Pacific rises to 29-22 on the season and 20-12 in PacWest competition. Leading the Sharks offensively, Sierra Dias went 3-for-6 with a triple while the pitching tandem of Jordan Curry (18-8) and Emilee Leonard (9-8) each turned in complete game victories with two runs allowed.

The final four-game series of the Urban Knights' Hawaii roadtrip takes them to the Big Island where they will face UH Hilo in noon HT (3 p.m. PT) doubleheaders on Friday, Apr. 12 and Saturday, Apr. 13.

"I told the team that today is behind us already," said Gomez. "We have to take each game one pitch at a time and refocus on what's right in front of us. For now, that's Hilo and we want to finish this road trip strong."