SAN FRANCISCO – A trio of multi-run rallies came from Academy of Art softball throughout Wednesday's non-conference doubleheader and ART U led in the late innings of the second contest, but SF State wound up taking both games at SFSU Softball Field. The Urban Knights cut into the Gators' game one lead with three straight hits plating a pair in the sixth, but the home team held on for the 10-2 victory. Then, the lead changed three times in game two as sophomore pitcher/infielder Katie Humphreys' productive bat drove in two more runs, one final rally in the fifth turned things toward the 5-4 end result for SF State.

GAME 1 – SFSU 10, ART U 2 (6)
Stringing together three consecutive two-out hits, the Gators scored three times in the opening frame. After a scoreless second, sophomore infielder Haley Randall got into scoring position on a single and a wild pitch, but it was SF State who built upon their lead with two more later in that third inning.

Academy of Art nearly brought in its first run of the contest in the fourth when senior catcher/infielder Lauryn Henderson roped a leadoff double to right center. However, she was then tagged out at home plate on the ensuing single by freshman utility Elle Edeker and the score became 7-0 with another Gators rally in the fifth.

The sixth began with a Randall single and was followed by senior utility Alyssa Rasmussen's second triple of the season to put the Knights on the scoreboard. A third consecutive hit came off the bat of Henderson who singled home Rasmussen to make it 7-2. After SF State put two on to start their half of the inning, however, a three-run homer from Brylynn Vallejos allowed the home team to walk off with a 10-2 victory.

GAME 2 – SFSU 5, ART U 4
Up 2-0 two innings into the second contest of the day, SF State was met with trouble in the third frame when senior catcher Alyssa Brundage opened with a single then three errors resulted in a tie game at 2-2.

After junior pitcher Haley Arnold-Jolley (0-5) and the ART U defense kept the Gators off the scoreboard in the two innings that followed, the Knights set the table for their most productive hitter in the fifth with a leadoff walk from sophomore outfielder Cailee Grayhorse-Pupecki and Randall's third double of the season. Humphreys proceeded to foul off a pair before plating her two teammates on a single and giving Academy of Art a 4-2 lead.

Back-to-back doubles started SF State's home half of the fifth and ultimately an error allowed the go-ahead run to come in as the game shifted back in the Gators' favor 5-4. The score would remain there for the duration, but did not come without opportunities for the Knights who put two on in the sixth then got another duo aboard in the seventh though groundouts would end both chances.

Seven different players accounted for the 16 hits from Academy of Art, now 2-24 overall, on Wednesday. Randall and Henderson, each 2-for-3 in the opening contest and 3-for-7 on the day, ended up combining for two doubles and two runs scored. Humphreys pushed her current stretch to 12 RBIs over her last seven games after going 3-for-4 in the finale which saw both Edeker and Brundage finish with a pair of hits apiece. Rasmussen was 1-for-3 with the triple, one RBI, and a run scored in the first game then scored once more in addition to stealing her team-high seventh base in the second contest.

An even 14-14 overall on the season, SF State was led by Vallejos' 6-for-8 effort over the two games which included four RBIs, six runs scored, a home run, a triple, a double, and a stolen base. Kaitlyn Maddux (6-9) emerged as the winning pitcher in the first game with two runs allowed on six hits, no walks, and five strikeouts in 6.0 innings before Taylor Kelly (2-2) picked up the win, allowing four runs on 10 hits with two walks and one strikeout.

ART U next returns to Pacific West Conference play with a noon doubleheader coming up this Saturday, Mar. 19 at Dominican in San Rafael.