TURLOCK, Calif. – Swinging for the eighth-most total bases in program history (25) on a season-high 14 hits, Academy of Art softball needed all 11 of its runs scored to best Simon Fraser in its fourth contest of the Tournament of Champions, presented by the City of Turlock. The Urban Knights bounced back from a 4-0 loss at Central Washington's hand earlier in the day with three-run homers from junior infielder
Haley Randall and senior outfielder
Bethany Mitchell propelling ART U to a 10-1 advantage over Simon Fraser in the evening, but SFU used a fifth-inning rally to tie things up before senior catcher/utility
Cassandra Mittman provided the difference-making hit in the sixth for the eventual 11-10 victory.
GAME 1 – CWU 4, ART U 0
Three Wildcat singles in the opening frame led to their first run, but the game remained 1-0 for the two innings that followed as senior pitcher
Haley Arnold-Jolley (2-15) dodged another threat with two on in the second before striking out the side in the third.
Productive outs for CWU in the fourth included a sacrifice fly then a solo homer in the fifth made it a 3-0 ballgame. Academy of Art had its best opportunity to score come in the fifth when singles by junior outfielder
Maddie Sticka and junior utility
Cailee Grayhorse-Pupecki sandwiched a walk drawn by Mitchell, but the bases were left loaded thereafter.
Central Washington added one more in the seventh then the Knights put two on via a Sticka walk and Mitchell single in the seventh, but the Wildcats managed to get the outs they needed to win 4-0.
GAME 2 – ART U 11, SFU 10
Mitchell wasted no time leading a lineup of bats that all broke out together in the second game of the day as she sent her ninth career triple to right field, tying
Haily MacDonald for the program's record. Though she would be left stranded and Simon Fraser threatened by putting its own runners into scoring position in the first two innings, freshman pitcher
Kamielle Powell (5-12) worked with her defense to keep the Red Leafs at bay.
In the third inning, field errors set up Grayhorse-Pupecki for a single to plate the contest's first run before Randall connected on the very next pitch for a ball past the right fielder and into the corner, allowing her to sprint around and record her ninth career home run, but first of the inside-the-park variety. Receiving hugs and high-fives from her teammates, she had made it a 4-0 ballgame.
That lead grew exponentially in the fourth when the bases were loaded on singles by freshman infielder
Audrey Allen, Sticka, and freshman catcher
Alexus Sorenson ahead of sophomore infielder
Elle Edeker's two-run double into the left center gap. Simon Fraser brought in a new pitcher, but it would not matter as Mitchell crushed a 2-1 offering beyond the fence in right center for the third home run of her career.
Academy of Art would later match the run SFU scored on two hits and an error in the third inning with a leadoff double by Allen eventually resulting in Sorenson's single to score her teammate in the fifth. Up 10-1 later that frame, the Knights set out on finishing the game early, but the Red Leafs incredibly scored nine runs (all unearned) on seven hits and three errors, effectively tying the matchup at 10-10.
Randall opened the sixth with a double and soon scored on a single from Mittman to make it an 11-10 ballgame before Powell shut down SFU in order on just five pitches thereafter. The potential tying run reached third on a single, sacrifice bunt, and groundout in a tense seventh, but one last out secured the win for Academy of Art in the end.
ART U shifts to 7-29 overall this season after the tandem of Mitchell and Randall combined to go 4-for-9 with six runs batted in, two homers, a double, a triple, and three runs scored between them. Grayhorse-Pupecki had multi-hit games in both contests on Saturday, ending 4-for-9 with one run batted in, one run scored, and two stolen bases. Three other Knights had two hits apiece in the second game including Sorenson who drove in one and scored one while Edeker wrapped up the contest 1-for-3 with two driven in, two runs scored, and the double. Powell finished off her second complete game of the season with just one earned run allowed in a season-best 7.0 innings despite surrendering 14 hits and one walk with one strikeout.
CWU improved to 16-14 with the win which was led by Myiah Seaton's 3-for-4 performance that featured the home run as well as a stolen base. Payton Kessler (5-2) collected the five-hit shutout with three walks and seven strikeouts in the full 7.0 innings of work.
Dropping to 7-27 despite splitting its two Saturday matchups, Simon Fraser had Abby McGlynn double twice for her 2-for-4 effort that included two runs batted in and one run scored. Shaneika Hollingworth (2-7) took the loss with three runs allowed on seven hits and four strikeouts in 4.0 relief innings.
ART U enters its final game of this year's Tournament of Champions tomorrow, meeting Cal State East Bay at Pedretti Park's Field 2 at 12:30 p.m.
