Games #1 & 2
ART U Urban Knights (0-0) vs. Menlo Oaks (0-0)
Friday, February 2, 2024 at Noon & 2 p.m.
Atherton, Calif. – Wunderlich Field
Live Stats (Game 1) | Live Video (Game 1)
Live Stats (Game 2) | Live Video (Game 2)

Games #3 & 4
ART U Urban Knights (0-0) vs. Menlo Oaks (0-0)
Saturday, February 3, 2024 at 11 a.m. & 1 p.m.
Atherton, Calif. – Wunderlich Field
Live Stats (Game 1) | Live Video (Game 1)
Live Stats (Game 2) | Live Video (Game 2)

Academy of Art softball unites toward the opening four-game series of the season as the first pitch of the Urban Knights' spring campaign will be thrown this week. Head Coach Geena Garabedian and her staff begin their first year helming the program with a solid core of experienced returners mixed with several new energetic newcomers in 2024.

In what will be a local start to the season, ART U begins with four games across Feb. 2-3 at Menlo before entering the North Bay Challenge (Feb. 10-11) which will feature singles games against Stanislaus State, Chico State, Cal State Monterey Bay, and Sonoma State all in Rohnert Park. A matchup with Cal State East Bay (Feb. 14) and the campaign's home opener hosting Simon Fraser (Feb. 16) take Academy of Art into Pacific West Conference play where eight consecutive home games include series versus Biola (Feb. 23-24) and Concordia (Feb. 27-28). A departure from conference action features matchups with CSUMB (Mar. 2) and SF State (Mar. 5) before the Knights are back hosting Azusa Pacific (Mar. 7-8) then on the road at Dominican (Mar. 16).

After facing various West Region opponents the Tournament of Champions (Mar. 22-24), the months of March and April are then bridged by ART U's Hawaii road trip which includes 12 total games at UH Hilo (Mar. 29-30), Hawaii Pacific (Apr. 2-3), and Chaminade (Apr. 6-7). Senior Day is next as ART U hosts Dominican on Apr. 26. In just its second year, the PacWest Conference Championship Tournament follows on May 1-3 in San Rafael. To view the 2024 schedule, click here!

Academy of Art's senior class features six individuals, outfielders Cailee Grayhorse-Pupecki and Maddie Sticka plus infielders Haley Randall, Katie Humphreys, Elle Edeker, and Hilary Grullon, with quite a collection of accomplishments over the past four years. Grayhorse-Pupecki, selected to the Preseason All-PacWest Team, comes off a record-setting junior campaign in which she became the program's single-season and career triples leader, ranking eighth in the conference with six triples and 10th in batting average (.336) on her way to earning a place on the All-PacWest Third Team. Two of the four Knights to play in all 51 games last year, Randall, two seasons removed from being named PacWest Freshman of the Year, ranked fifth in the PacWest with 34 runs scored in 2023 while Humphreys checks in at second in ART U history in career fielding percentage (.980)

Among the team's juniors are returning pitcher/outfielder Sydney Harmon and an incoming trio of hard-hitting transfers in catcher/infielder Liberty Herrera, utility Alexis Folks, and infielder/pitcher Morgan Shults. Herrera batted .397 with four home runs, eight doubles, 26 runs batted in, and 25 runs scored in her latest season with Alvin Community College. Folks, who joins ART U following two seasons with Northeast Community College, delivered a .404 batting average, six home runs, 14 doubles, 28 RBIs, and 42 runs scored most recently. Shults, a transfer from Bellevue College, comes off a 2023 season that saw her hit .419 with 15 doubles and 46 runs scored while it marked her second consecutive year driving in at least 30 runs.

Five returning Knights compose the Academy of Art sophomore group which includes two among the PacWest leaders in 2023. Infielder Audrey Allen was a member of the All-PacWest Third Team and finished eighth in conference in both batting average (.338) and doubles (11) while pitcher Kamielle Powell ranked fifth in the PacWest in innings pitched (148.2) and ninth in strikeouts (66). Complementing those offensive and defensive skillsets will be utility Alexus Sorenson, infielder/catcher Olivia Glover, and outfielder Marissa "Roo" Menard.

Matching its largest freshman class in the last five seasons, ART U welcomes a quintet of new faces in outfielders Bella Jimenez and Lida Wos, pitchers Talyn Fordham and Alyssa Fullmer, and pitcher/utility Kayla Vaughan. Wos, an All-State honoree out of Serra Catholic High School, hit .581 as a senior, driving in 26 runs, stealing 21 bases, and swinging for extra bases nine times. Fordham was Honorable Mention All-Conference as a freshman at Silver Creek High School, posting a 1.07 ERA and nearly 60 strikeouts in the first 39 innings pitched of her high school career.

The Urban Knights join in penning the 16th chapter of the Academy of Art softball program this Thursday.