ATHERTON, Calif. – Dominant pitching and timely hitting led Academy of Art softball to a pair of victories and no runs allowed across 16.0 innings of action on Friday's start to the Urban Knights' Pacific West Conference series at Menlo. Freshman infielder Riannah Maulupe's fourth hit of the day broke a scoreless tie in the ninth inning as the series opener was won 4-0 then sophomore pitcher/utility Kayla Vaughan (6-14) tossed her second collegiate shutout while helping provide some of her own run support in a 2-0 triumph to end the day at Wunderlich Field.

GAME 1 – ART U 4, MC 0 (9)
Though the Oaks put two runners on in the first inning, junior pitcher Kamielle Powell (2-18) was able to work with her defense to induce consecutive outs. As the duel went back and forth, two hits from freshman infielder Riannah Maulupe were sprinkled in while Powell was busy retiring nine consecutive batters to reach the sixth

There, Menlo managed three singles, but a second runner caught stealing by senior catcher/infielder Liberty Herrera on the afternoon helped dodge the threat. Maulupe tripled for the first time in her collegiate career with one down in the seventh and, after Vaughan came on in relief later in the frame, Herrera nabbed another base-stealer to force extras.

Herrera's double led off the eighth, but it was not until the ninth that Academy of Art broke through. A leadoff walk by senior utility Alexis Folks was followed by an error and two stolen bases to set up Maulupe for the game-changing double that put her team in front 2-0. ART U did not stop there though, tacking on two more via graduate student outfielder Cailee Grayhorse-Pupecki's run-scoring groundout and Herrera's sacrifice fly. Vaughan finished off the 4-0 win by retiring all six Oaks she faced in the final two innings.

GAME 2 – ART U 2, MC 0
Three scoreless frames began the second game of the afternoon as Vaughan carried her momentum from the relief appearance. In the fourth, a single from sophomore outfielder Ari Mallari set up a two-out delivery from Herrera who singled for the 1-0 lead.

Vaughan doubled that eventual winning margin in the sixth when she followed a Mallari leadoff single with another two-out clutch swing, singling in her teammate to move in front 2-0. Just one hit was allowed the rest of the way as Vaughan finished off the complete game shutout with no runs on six hits, one walk, and five strikeouts, sweeping the day.

Friday's sweep boosts ART U to 8-33 on the year and 6-20 in conference play after Maulupe became the 26th Knight ever to register four hits (4-for-4), a home run shy of the cycle, while adding two runs batted in. Herrera drove in runs in each contest, ending 2-for-6, Mallari concluded the day 3-for-7 with three runs scored, and Folks stole three bases in the two games.

Menlo falls to 8-30 overall and 7-17 in its first PacWest season. Alexia Lozano was the only Oak to register multiple hits in either contest, finishing the second 2-for-4 with two doubles. Meanwhile, Shelby White (3-11) completed all 9.0 innings in the first game, surrendering two earned runs on seven hits with one walk and one strikeout then Destanee Perez (3-11) dropped the second contest with two runs allowed on six hits plus two walks and two strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work.

Another noon doubleheader is on tap for tomorrow as the series between the two teams will wrap up back at Wunderlich Field.