Games #48 & 49
ART U Urban Knights (7-40, 3-23 PacWest) vs. Dominican Penguins (18-25, 13-14 PacWest)
Friday, April 28, 2023 at Noon & 2 p.m.
Brisbane, Calif. – Mission Blue Field
Live Stats & Live Video

Games #50 & 51
ART U Urban Knights (7-40, 3-23 PacWest) vs. Holy Names Hawks (13-32, 10-19 PacWest)
Saturday, April 29, 2023 at Noon & 2 p.m.
Hayward, Calif. – Chabot College
Live Stats & Live Video

LOCAL PACWEST ACTION TO CLOSE OUT 2023 CAMPAIGN
Remaining in the Bay Area for its final four games of the season, Academy of Art softball will first celebrate outfielders Nina Vallejos and Bethany Mitchell, pitcher Haley Arnold-Jolley, and catcher/utility Cassandra Mittman ahead of a Senior Day doubleheader hosting Dominican. The following day will see the Urban Knights rematch Holy Names in Hayward to finish 2023.

FIRST PITCH
Both noon twin bills, the final two gamedays of the season for ART U will be played at Mission Blue Field on Friday, Apr. 28 (Holy Names) and at Chabot College in Hayward on Saturday, Apr. 29. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights via the athletics app (Apple App Store, Google Play Store) and on Twitter & Instagram, as well as "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps. 

KNIGHT WATCH
Continuing to move beyond the program's single-season triples record, Academy of Art is now up to 13 on the year (third in PacWest) with the tandem of junior utility Cailee Grayhorse-Pupecki and senior outfielder Bethany Mitchell both on the verge of history. Grayhorse-Pupecki, who has a team-high 18 runs batted in and is hitting .331 (14th in PacWest) with 10 multi-hit games since Mar. 23, has registered five triples on the year (second in PacWest) to tie her with Ashley Lokey (2012) for the program's single-season record in addition to giving her nine in her career which is tied with Haily MacDonald for the ART U record. Mitchell makes that a three-part tie for the career lead as her four triples on the season (sixth in PacWest) have also given her nine in her career, coming with 14 doubles (second in PacWest, fourth in ART U history), a .265 batting average, and 17 runs batted in thus far in 2023. In between Grayhorse-Pupecki and Mitchell in batting average are the duo of junior infielder Haley Randall and freshman infielder Audrey Allen whose identical hit and at-bat totals share them at a .301 batting average. Randall, who has a team-high 12 multi-hit games this season, paces the team with 27 runs scored and nine stolen bases (both ninth in PacWest).

Both among the conference's top six in innings pitched, freshman Kamielle Powell (5-14) and senior Haley Arnold-Jolley (2-24) have logged 134.0 (fifth in PacWest) and 122.2 (sixth in PacWest) frames in the circle to date. Powell offers a 4.02 earned run average and 58 strikeouts (ninth in PacWest) in the start to her career while Arnold-Jolley has moved up to fifth in ART U history in career innings pitched (332.2), seventh in career complete games (15), and ninth in career strikeouts (74) as she approaches the completion of her fifth year with the program.

GIVING THE PENGUINS THEIR DU
Since its sweep of ART U on Mar. 7, Dominican had been up and down, never winning or losing more than three games consecutively until dropping five straight during a trip to Southern California on Apr. 15-18. The Penguins come into this week's rematch with Academy of Art having split four with Holy Names while pursuing the final spot in the inaugural PacWest Tournament. Pitching has been DU's biggest asset as the team ranks second in the PacWest in strikeouts (210) and fourth in ERA (2.90) with Shelby Keltner (12-14) leading the conference in strikeouts (155) and ranking fourth individually in ERA (1.90). Offensively, just one Penguin, Marina Medina (.305), is hitting above .300 and it is Keltner who also serves as the team's RBI leader at 13. Having faced Dominican more than any other team in program history, ART U is 39-23 historically versus DU.

REMEMBER THE NAMES
Though Holy Names took two from Academy of Art earlier this month on Apr. 8, the Hawks proceeded to proceeded to drop their next 11 contests prior to splitting four with Dominican this past weekend. HNU, who ranks second in the PacWest in stolen bases (48) and third in home runs (11), has looked to Isabella Scozzola as its batting average leader (.291) while 66 runs batted in have come from the trio of Celeste Pacheco (23), Iris Bejarano (22), and Olivia Lee (21). Melody Gomez (3-4) paces the team with a 3.60 ERA and strikeout-leader (43) Kelsey Volkmar (6-7) checks in at second with a 3.81 ERA. Including this year's previous results, ART U currently holds a 36-19 lead all-time versus Holy Names.

EAGLES COUNTER EARLY KNIGHTS LEADS IN SERIES' FINAL GAMES
Despite scoring first in each side of an Apr. 18 Pacific West Conference twin bill, Academy of Art softball could not maintain its advantages against multi-run rallies from Biola at Freedom Field. To start the afternoon, an immediate 2-0 margin was rebutted by five runs from the Eagles in a high-scoring opening frame that ended with BU on top 10-2. Then a three-run third inning from ART U in the series conclusion shifted to Biola on top 5-3 an inning later en route to the 11-3 final.