BRISBANE, Calif. – In a matchup of the top two teams in the Pacific West Conference Northern California pod, Academy of Art softball split with Dominican on Friday at Mission Blue Field. A pitchers' duel after the first two innings, game one went to the Penguins 2-1, but the Urban Knights jumped in front on a two-run homer from freshman infielder Haley Randall to start the day's finale and junior pitcher Cecilia Lopez (4-2) did not allow an earned run the rest of the way in a 6-4 victory.

GAME 1 – DU 2, ART U 1
Both pitchers faced runners on situations in the first two innings of the day as senior Hannah Rose Balke (6-6) initially allowed two runs on a pair of hits and three walks in the first and Shelby Keltner (6-7), after giving up a hit and a steal to sophomore outfielder Bethany Mitchell in the first, surrendered one in the second. A leadoff walk from graduate student infielder Chelsea Sligh turned into a run when freshman outfielder Cailee Grayhorse-Pupecki doubled for the third time this season, making the score 2-1 Penguins.

After Balke and Keltner retired their respective sides in order in the third, the exchanged extrications from fourth-inning jams and were back in their rhythms in the fifth. Balke's season-high-tying seventh strikeout ended a runner at third situation in the sixth and she then pitched around two singles in the seventh. In the end, however, Dominican held onto its 2-1 advantage through the final frame.

Balke would finish her eighth complete game of the season with two runs allowed on nine hits with three walks and seven strikeouts (one shy of her career-high). She now owns a 2.99 earned run average after allowing three runs or less in four of her last five starts.

GAME 2 – ART U 6, DU 4
Quickly taking control in the first inning of the day's second contest, a walk to junior catcher/infielder Lauryn Henderson was promptly followed up by Randall's team-leading fifth home run of the season, taking a 0-1 pitch to left. That 2-0 lead was then defended by Lopez and the ART U defense before it became 3-0 in the third when Lopez helped her own cause with the first triple of her career after a walk to Mitchell.

An error was later followed by three consecutive singles in the fourth as Dominican was brought within a single run at 3-2, but Academy of Art quickly tacked on a pair of its own later that inning. Graduate student outfielder Gabi Hirsch's leadoff double was converted on a single by Henderson then Sligh plated Henderson to make it 5-2.

Neither side scored in the fifth as the Knights' defense held tough getting repeated forceouts to keep the Penguins from threatening. ART U added an insurance run on another run-scoring single by Henderson and while it wasn't necessarily needed for the win, it helped Academy of Art feel a bit safer as two errors resulted in two more unearned runs in the seventh before Lopez struck out a pinch-hitter to finish the 6-4 victory.

For her fourth win of the year, Lopez did not allow an earned run on 10 hits with one walk and two strikeouts.

The Urban Knights, now 12-10 overall and 11-7 in PacWest play, saw one streak survive the doubleheader: Henderson's reached base streak. Having got on in 20 straight games (recording a hit in her last eight), the Gilbert, Ariz. native finished the day 3-for-5 with two runs batted in and two runs scored. Grayhorse-Pupecki was the other ART U student-athlete to record a hit in each contest, going 2-for-6 with a double. Game two saw several standout offensive performances including Hirsch's 3-for-4 outing with a double, Randall's aforementioned home run as part of a 1-for-4 line with two RBIs, and Lopez who had her second multi-hit game of the year with a 2-for-3 day in addition to adding one RBI.

Still tied with an identical 11-7 conference record to go with a 12-14 overall record, Dominican was led by Keltner's complete game effort in the opener with one run allowed on four hits and six strikeouts. Peyton Mott backed her up with a 2-for-4 performance that included one RBI in that contest while Mady Christensen drove in a pair on a 2-for-4 game two. Kathryn Caravalho (3-3) took the loss in the second contest after surrendering two runs on three hits in 1.2 innings of work.

Academy of Art and Dominican will meet twice more tomorrow starting at noon in San Rafael.