BRISBANE, Calif. – Coming right back after a rain-delayed first game at Mission Blue Field, Academy of Art softball rallied for four runs in the first inning of Thursday's finale against Northwest Nazarene while sophomore pitcher/utility
Kayla Vaughan (3-11) nearly completed the first perfect game in program history. The Nighthawks rallied to a 15-1 win amid wet conditions to start the day, but the Urban Knights swung for extra bases five times in the second contest, triumphing 7-1.
GAME 1 – NNU 15, ARTU 1 (5)
A leadoff walk, stolen base, and single produced the first run of the day for Northwest Nazarene in the opening frame, but it was not until the second that a significant margin was created. The visitors rallied for nine runs on seven hits and, though ART U put two runners on in the bottom of the second, the 10-0 score held up until the fourth.
Senior catcher/infielder
Liberty Herrera opened the home half with a single and soon the bases were loaded for senior utility
Alexis Folks who delivered one run on another single. NNU further built its advantage in the fifth, plating runs on both sides of a 10-mintue rain delay that swept over the field. As the inning played out, the Nighthawks emerged 15-1 victors.
GAME 2 – ART U 7, NNU 1
After retiring the first three batters she faced, Vaughan played a major role her side's rally in the bottom of game two's opening inning. Junior infielder
Audrey Allen doubled home the first run of the rally, another came in on an error, then Vaughan singled in a pair on the first pitch of her at-bat, helping fuel a 4-0 start.
Vaughan struck out at least one Nighthawk in each of the next three innings (two in the third) while her squad added two more runs in the fourth on a sacrifice fly from freshman infielder
Riannah Maulupe and a run-scoring single by sophomore outfielder
Ari Mallari.
The latter of that pair doubled home the Knights' seventh run of the contest in the sixth before Vaughan returned to the pitching circle having retired all 15 batters she had faced to that point in the seventh. Though the chance at perfection was stopped with NNU's leadoff homer, the native of San Diego was still able to induce the last outs for the 7-1 win.
Academy of Art, now 5-27 overall, was paced offensively by Allen's 3-for-4 second contest that saw her finish a homer shy of the cycle with three runs scored and one driven in. Mallari added a 2-for-4 effort with two runs batted in, a double, and one run scored while Maulupe reached in each contest to push her current streak to 21 games. Vaughan did all of her damage in the second game, going 1-for-3 with two RBIs at the plate while allowing just the one run on one hit and one walk with five strikeouts across 7.0 innings of work.
Northwest Nazarene returns to Idaho with a 18-16 record this season after Clarissa Moreno and Emma Mulligan combined to go 5-for-11 with four driven in, four runs scored, a homer, and two stolen bases in the doubleheader. Miah Lusk (7-9) earned the win in the day's opener with one run allowed on four hits and two walks plus three strikeouts in 3.0 innings. Lasting just 0.1 innings, Riley McGee (5-4) took the loss in the second contest with four unearned runs allowed on two hits and one walk.
With their 11-game homestand complete, the Knights resume PacWest play in Southern California with a four-game series at Vanguard on Mar. 29-31.
