SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Though Academy of Art softball put together multiple two-run rallies to challenge Dominican at Penguin Field on Saturday, the Pacific West Conference twin bill ended up in the hands of the Penguins as a 7-2 victory in the opener was followed by an 8-2 final in game two after late pushes had the home team further its winning margins on both occasions.

GAME 1 – DUC 7, ART U 2
A scoring opportunity came early for Academy of Art as sophomore infielder Audrey Allen, aboard on a single, nearly came around to score on senior infielder Katie Humphreys' double but ended up being out at home. Though freshman pitcher Kayla Vaughan (3-6) struck out two in the opening frame, the Penguins used a solo homer and two more hits to gain a 2-0 advantage.

The margin grew to 3-0 in the fourth inning but was suddenly dropped to just one run in the fifth when senior outfielder Cailee Grayhorse-Pupecki blasted a two-run homer to right field. Dominican countered with three more scores in the home half of the frame en route to securing the day's opening contest 7-2.

GAME 2 – DUC 8, ART U 2
The first seven Knights to come to the plate reached first base in an eventful first inning highlighted by senior infielder Haley Randall's two-run single. Dominican, however, came back with singular runs in each of the two opening frames before adding three more in the third for a 5-2 advantage.

A double play by sophomore pitcher Kamielle Powell (1-3), who did not allow an earned run in 3.0 innings of relief work in the game, and Humphreys at first kept DUC off the scoreboard in the fourth, but the Penguins took advantage of miscues in two of the final three innings to walk away with an 8-2 win.

Academy of Art, 7-16 overall and 3-11 in PacWest matchups, was led by Humphreys who, after going 3-for-3 with a double in the opening contest, made it five multi-hit efforts in her last nine games to support a team-best .368 batting average on the year. Grayhorse-Pupecki had a hit and scored a run in both games, delivering her two-run homer in the first while Randall recorded two runs batted in as part of a 2-for-3 second contest.

Now 16-12 on the season and 10-8 in conference play, Dominican relied heavily on both the bats of Shelby Keltner (2-for-4) and Taylor Rodriguez (3-for-7), who each had a homer and three RBIs, and their respective arms in the pitching circle as Keltner improved to 8-6 with two runs allowed on eight hits with no walks and four strikeouts and Rodriguez moved to 6-3 also with two runs allowed on seven hits with three walks and two strikeouts both in a complete 7.0 innings.

The next time ART U will be in action will be when the Knights open their 10th Tournament of Champions with Western Washington (11:30 a.m.) and Chico State (4:30 p.m.) on Mar. 22.