SAN FRANCISCO – In a 2023 campaign focused on a "Brick By Brick" mentality with steady building every day, Academy of Art softball upset a nationally-ranked opponent, executed multiple doubleheader sweeps, achieved career milestones, and celebrated its seniors over the course of a 51-game journey.

Officially starting on the first day of February, ART U opened with quite a bit of offense, totaling 19 hits while hosting Jessup then, on Feb. 3, the hit parade continued in a split doubleheader that ended with the Knights toppling No. 25 Sonoma State, eventual NCAA Division II Tournament qualifier, by a final of 7-2. Junior infielder Katie Humphreys and junior outfielder Maddie Sticka combined to drive in four of the runs while freshman pitcher Kamielle Powell (7-14) shut out the Seawolves for the final three innings while allowing just one hit.

In two-part series on Feb. 10 and Feb. 11, Academy of Art would narrowly drop one-run games to Chico State and Stanislaus State before tough results at Cal State East Bay on Feb. 14. Non-conference play continued on Feb. 17 with another home twin bill as ART U bounced back by sweeping Menlo on the strength of Powell's combined seven scoreless frames and 14 runs of offense, eight of which were either driven in or scored by freshman infielder Audrey Allen. The 6-for-7 effort that included five runs batted in, three runs scored, and two doubles led Allen to be named Pacific West Conference Player of the Week.

The Knights then began March by playing two rather different games at SF State with the first a pitchers' duel and the second seeing the teams combine for 18 runs as key hits from sophomore infielder/pitcher Elle Edeker and senior outfielder Bethany Mitchell helped spur a near-comeback. PacWest play opened five days later on Mar. 7 as solid pitching kept both scores low at Dominican. Following a Mar. 11 trip to Cal State Monterey Bay, Academy of Art had its schedule rearranged by Mother Nature and ended up not completing a game until its trip to Azusa Pacific where senior catcher/utility Cassandra Mittman tripled for the first time in her career on Mar. 17 and Allen drove in three during the Mar. 18 series finale, but the Cougars ended up prevailing in the quartet of contests.

Though weather affected the week three PacWest Hawaii schools were visiting the Bay Area, ART U was still able to host Chaminade on Mar. 23 and, though the Silverswords took the doubleheader, the Knights delivered 17 hits including three apiece from junior infielder Haley Randall and junior outfielder Cailee Grayhorse-Pupecki. Academy of Art then returned to the win column on Mar. 24 as four different Knights, including freshman catcher Alexus Sorenson and freshman utility Roo Menard, drove in runs to support a complete game with just one run allowed from Powell.

ART U would turn right around and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ community on Pride Day which ended on a triumphant note with Mitchell and Allen each singling runs home for an extra-inning comeback walk-off victory over HPU on Mar. 25. Ahead of the Tournament of Champions, Academy of Art split a pair with UH Hilo as a 7.0-inning gem with no earned runs allowed came from senior pitcher Haley Arnold-Jolley (3-25) on Mar. 27.  

Seven games across four days in Turlock were next as the Knights first finished their series with Chaminade on Mar. 30 then battled various NCAA DII West Region opponents on Mar. 31, Apr. 1, and Apr. 2 as part of the Tournament of Champions. Among the highlights was a wild 11-10 win over Simon Fraser that featured three-run homers from both Randall and Mitchell (plus her triple to tie the ART U career record) before the game-winning run came in off the bat of Mittman in the sixth inning.

Playing PacWest games the rest of the way, Academy of Art first hosted Holy Names on Apr. 8 and, despite ART U scoring first in each contest, the Hawks' offense propelled them to comebacks in both. One week later in Irvine to challenge No. 15 Concordia on Apr. 14 and Apr. 15, the Knights hung tough, but could not overcome the Golden Eagles' nation-leading pitching. The Southern California swing continued at Biola on Apr. 17 and Apr. 18 where two tightly-contested games began the series.

Hosting Dominican for its final home games of the season on Apr. 28, Academy of Art honored its quartet of graduate student outfielder Nina Vallejos, Mitchell, Arnold-Jolley, and Mittman on Senior Day then sent them out with a victory pushed by Powell's complete game shutout and Allen's run-scoring double in the first inning. The ART U offense would flex its muscles yet again in the Apr. 29 season finale sweep at HNU as 21 runs of offense were scored with the year ending in a 10-inning thriller the Knights won 11-10. The day after she broke the program record with her 10th career triple, Grayhorse-Pupecki capped a breakout second half by homering three times as part of her 5-for-10 final day that included four runs batted in and four scored, prompting her to receive PacWest Player of the Week honors.

Poised to take another step forward in the year to come, Grayhorse-Pupecki and Allen were both voted to the All-PacWest Third Team following the regular season. Each member of the dynamic lefty tandem hit .335 while driving in more than 20 runs, scoring over 20 times, and combining for 30 extra-base hits.

As the program approaches its 2024 campaign, Academy of Art will continue to build upon the foundation Urban Knights have worked to create in the 15 years before it.