Box Score Game 1
Box Score Game 2
Hayward, CA – Just four days after their season opener, the Academy of Art University's women's softball team played a double header against Cal State East Bay on Sunday afternoon. The women didn't let the strong winds get to them as they came out attacking in game one. Powerful offense combined with solid pitching gave the Urban Knights all they needed as they came away with a 4-1 win in the first game. Game two was a different story. Art U's offense struggled to make things happen, and unfortunately their pitching was not enough to keep them ahead. The Knights ended up dropping the second game with a final score of 2-7.
Game one was a pitching duel early on. The first two innings were scoreless for both teams, before the Knights finally got some offense going in the top of the third. Freshman Elyse Cordova singled and later advanced to second on a ground out. With two outs, junior Genna Allen came through big time for her team. She hit a line drive down the right field line, which screamed past the diving outfielder and rolled all the way to the fence. Cordova scored easily from second, and Allen made it all the way around the bases for an inside the park homerun. That gave ART U a 2-0 lead.
The Urban Knights struck again in the top of the fifth, when senior Alana Aweau doubled to deep left-center field, scoring Allen from third. After the Pioneers rallied a run of their own in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Knights tacked on one final run in the top of the sixth when sophomore Andrea Hanchey scored on freshman Lauren Stover's single through the infield. That gave the Knights a three run cushion, which was all they needed for their pitching to hold onto the win.
“Sierrah Garcia had a great game,” said Head Coach Rachel Sherman. “As a team we communicated very well and made adjustments at the plate.”
Junior Sierrah Garcia started in the circle for ART U and had an outstanding game. She went all seven innings pitched giving up just three hits, one run, two walks, and posted five strikeouts. Garcia also records the win in the game.
Offensively Aweau had a great game at the plate for the Knights. She went 3-4 with a double, and one run batted in. Sophomore Julie Martin also did very well going 2-2 with a walk on the day. Stover finished 2-4 with one run batted in, and Allen rounded things out going 1-4 with two runs scored, and two RBIs.
“Julie and Alana did a great job putting pressure on the defense,” added Sherman. “Julie did well putting the ball on the ground and using her speed, and Alana did a great job using her tools and picking apart the defense.”
For the Pioneers, Montanez went 1-2 with a walk, Salmones went 1-3 with one run scored, and Johnson went 1-3 with one run batted in. The losing pitcher was Zweigle who went all seven innings pitched giving up four runs (three earned), two walks, and had five strikeouts.
The Urban Knights scored four runs on ten hits, and had no errors in the game.
Game two proved to be very different for the Academy of Art women. The Pioneers jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first. After two perfect defensive games for ART U, two costly errors allowed for three runs in the first inning, giving East Bay a 4-0 lead.
The Urban Knights then settled down, and were able to keep East Bay's offense quiet for a while. ART U got on the board in the top of the third inning when freshman Elyse Cordova singled to center to score sophomore Julie Martin from second. The game then proved to be a pitching battle yet again, as both teams failed to put any more runs on the board until the sixth.
In the top of the sixth, the Knights cut the lead in half by scoring once. Sophomore Alyssa Hickey singled up the middle to score freshman Lauren Clark-Lewis from second. But the Pioneers answered right back in the bottom of the inning. A huge late inning three-run homerun put East Bay up by five in the bottom of the sixth. The Urban Knights were unable to push anymore runs across in the top of the seventh, and ultimately fell to CSUEB.
Only two Urban Knights managed to record hits in the game, as the team struggled with the Pioneer's pitching. Cordova and Hickey each posted one hit and one run batted in during the game. Both Martin and Clark-Lewis scored one run.
Junior ace Sierrah Garcia came in with no outs in the first inning, and pitched the majority of the game. Sophomore Kimberly Dauer started the game and gave up three hits and three runs (one earned). Garcia went 5.1 innings pitched, gave up three hits, and posted three strikeouts. Freshman Katie Brooks came in for relief and went .2 innings recording one strikeout. Dauer received the loss in the game.
“In game one Sierrah threw the ball hard, and they [the Pioneers] struggled to keep up with her. In game two, she was able to move the ball to throw-off the batters. She did well keeping the hitters off balance with two different approaches,” said Coach Sherman.
For CSUEB, Yaller did well going 1-2 with a homerun, two runs scored, and three runs batted in. Seven different Pioneer batters recorded hits in the game. Winger, Neumann, Montanez, and Johnson each went 1-3 in the game. Receiving the win was Lowe who went 5.2 innings pitched giving up one hit, two runs, and five walks.
The Urban Knights scored two runs on two hits, had two errors, and left five runners on base.
After the split, the Academy of Art University's record stands at 2-1 overall, and Cal State East Bay's record is at 3-1 overall. The Knights get a few days rest before they head to Las Vegas, NV to compete in the Montana State Billings Desert Stinger Tournament. The tournament begins on February 11th and will be held at Majestic Park.
