BRISBANE, Calif. – Avenging a Mar. 23 doubleheader at Holy Names, Academy of Art softball put up two dominant Pacific West Conference victories over the Hawks on Friday out at Mission Blue Field. ART U got out to an early lead in the opening contest and furthered its advantage with back-to-back three-run surges midway through before walking off an inning early 9-1 on a single by junior outfielder Gabi Hirsch. In the day's finale, the Urban Knights went up 3-0 in the fourth inning, were ahead 7-1 after a big sixth, and held off HNU in the final frame for the 7-4 triumph.

"The team really thrived on stringing together some rallies today," said head coach Alex Gomez. "Their bats were alive and they made some great adjustments from the last time we faced these pitchers. Those losses really hurt since they were both heartbreakers in the bottom of the seventh inning. I know our pitchers were anxious to get ahead of them and our hitters wanted to make them feel really comfortable."

GAME 1 – ART U 9, HNU 1 (6)
After both Hirsch and junior utility Dominique Seva'aetasi started the bottom of the first inning with singles, a pair of errors allowed one run to score and another came in moments later on a wild pitch. Holy Names would get one of those two runs back in the second when a walk and three stolen bases by Valentina Fonts halved the margin.

ART U unloaded three more runs in the third when another error led to a score and senior infielder Brenna Youngquist later plated two with a single up the middle. Armed with a 5-1 lead, junior pitcher Hannah Rose Balke (6-12) was rather stingy thereafter. She pitched around an error and a walk in the fourth, only to be given more support in the fourth on run-scoring doubles by junior infielder Gracie Sotomayor and sophomore catcher Lauryn Henderson as well as a single from Hirsch that all helped make it an 8-1 margin.

Balke did not allow a hit through her 4.1 innings of work and handed the ball to freshman Haley Arnold-Jolley in the fifth. Though the reliever would run into a bit of trouble after a leadoff double broke up the combined no-hitter in the sixth, no damage ended up being done. One score from triggering the run rule, a triple by Sotomayor was followed by Hirsch's game-ending single in the 9-1 final.

GAME 2 – ART U 7, HNU 4
A Hirsch single and a Henderson double prefaced Youngquist's sacrifice fly in the first inning of the day's second contest while sophomore starter Cecilia Lopez (9-7) faced a total of just four base-runners in her first four scoreless frames. Academy of Art built its margin up to 3-0 in that same inning, scoring on a squeeze bunt then a double by Seva'aetasi.

Holy Names would get on the board in the fifth with a double of its own and redshirt sophomore Sarah Wapner (2-0) was called upon in relief. She held the line and ART U proceeded to execute its largest rally of the day in the sixth as a two-run single from freshman infielder Cassandra Mittman and a run-scoring single from senior utility Katie Tablada highlighted the push.

Three doubles in the seventh gave the Hawks life and three runs in the seventh, but Wapner would ultimately strike out the final batter, securing her second victory of the season and a 7-4 end result.

Now heading into its final two home games of the year, Academy of Art is 16-19 on the season and 12-11 in conference play. Hirsch finished the day 5-for-7 with two runs batted in, four runs scored, and a stolen base while fellow hitter atop the lineup Seva'aetasi scored four times as well and added one RBI in her 4-for-6 combined performance. Mittman added a 3-for-5, two-RBI day and Sotomayor was the third Urban Knight to score four times as part of a 3-for-6 doubleheader. Both of Henderson's hits in a 2-for-5 collective effort were doubles and Youngquist finished with a team-high three RBIs.

Holy Names falls to 11-31 overall and 10-20 in PacWest action. Haighley Kissee had the best offensive performance in the second contest, going 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

The Urban Knights return to Mission Blue Field tomorrow for a Senior Day doubleheader hosting Dominican. A ceremony honoring Youngquist and Tablada will take place at roughly 9:50 a.m. prior to game one.

"I really just want the girls to focus on each other, embrace and enjoy these last four games together, and focus on going on the field to play softball because they love the game," said Gomez. "I want them to give it everything they have and stay strong together as a team."