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Azusa, CA -- How sweep it is.

Friday evening out at Azusa Pacific's Cougar Softball Complex, Academy of Art University Softball pulled off its second sweep of a Pacific West Conference opponent in three chances here in 2013. Much like their 4-3 victory in the eighth inning against UH Hilo last week, the Urban Knights made their move ahead 3-2 in the ninth inning on a double steal that saw senior Julie Martin snag home plate. In game two, ART U went up 4-0 after a three-run second and outlasted a late Cougar comeback to win 4-3. Senior Kimberly Dauer (3-5) turned in a performance for the ages with just two hits allowed through 9.0 innings while sophomore Haily MacDonald (1-0) picked up her first win with five plus innings of solid pitching.

"Kim and Haily did a great job tonight," co-head coach Sami Strinz said. "They had great command of all their pitches and got the batters to swing to our contact. Kim kept them of balance for nine innings and our defense made plays when I counted later in the game. We know Haily is going to throw strikes and she did the same tonight. Again, our defense made the plays when it counted the most."

Game one started with ART U loading the bases on singles by MacDonald and junior Lauren Stover as well as a walk to senior Andrea Hanchey. Having put pressure on Azusa Pacific's starting pitcher, Rita Kim (1-1), the Knights capitalized when MacDonald came in to score on a wild pitch.

That 1-0 lead held up until the bottom of the 2nd when three fielding errors allowed APU to score twice and get ahead 2-1. The contest was then tied in the fourth, however, as singles by Martin and MacDonald helped ART U load the bases again. This time, it was freshman Jessica Marin who came home on a passed ball to make it a 2-2 affair.

Dauer, the Knights' game one starter who was pitching some of the best softball in her career, continued to force zeroes upon the Cougars. At one point, she retired 16 batters in a row.

Her counterpart was in a rhythm of her own, but ran into some trouble in the seventh. After allowing a leadoff bunt single to MacDonald, a sacrifice by Cordova, and a passed ball, Kim found herself looking at MacDonald on third representing the winning run. However, on this occasion, Kim got out of it on a foul out-throw out double play to end the inning.

Still knotted up 2-2 in the ninth, ART U again got a potential rally started when Martin reached on an error and MacDonald walked. That one-out sequence effectively knocked Kim out of the game and that's when more crafty base-running by the Knights put them ahead.

Junior Elyse Cordova hit a ball to the APU shortstop who threw out MacDonald at second, but a fake double steal shortly thereafter forced the Cougars to attempt a play on Cordova while Martin broke for home to score what would be the winning run.

"I am extremely proud of our team, they never gave up," co-head coach Randy Ward said. "One of our philosophies is to go down trying to win instead of trying not to lose and the execution on the double steal was perfect. Elyse and Jules didn't hesitate, went for it, and it ended up winning us the game."

Dauer finished off her complete game masterpiece with three outs despite the first batter reaching second base on two errors. Dauer would go 9.0 innings in the circle which was the third-most in ART U single-game history and second in her own career behind the 10.0 innings she delivered at BYU-Hawaii last year. Friday evening's performance featured just one earned run allowed on two hits with five strikeouts.

"I was feeling really good today and the team came out with the right energy and mentality we needed to win," Dauer said. "I was so excited when we got that double steal in the ninth and it was a big momentum changer. We just needed that one run to finish the game and there was never a doubt in my mind that the team would do whatever it took to get that win."


Still pumped up from its game one win, the Urban Knights jumped ahead early in game two as sophomore Taylor Thurman stepped to the plate with two on and, fighting back from an 0-2 count, delivered an RBI single to center.

The 1-0 lead then became 4-0 after two innings as ART U turned up the heat offensively in the second. Walks to freshman Jasmine Dickenson and MacDonald along with a hit batter in Martin loaded the bases for the Knights' heart of the order. Stover battled through a full count before finding a pitch she liked and smashing a two-run single to right field. Hanchey added a RBI single shortly thereafter and Academy of Art had now given MacDonald a 4-0 cushion in her third start of the year.

Posting three-up, three-down innings in the second and fourth, MacDonald credited the ART U defense as a major factor in helping her go beyond the 5.0 innings pitched mark with a shutout still intact.

“The defense had my back when I was in the circle,” MacDonald said. “I had confidence in them and it made my job easier. I was able to focus at one pitch at a time and know they had my back each time.”

Azusa Pacific made a comeback attempt in the fifth when four hits turned into three runs including a double by Heather Koch. Sophomore Kristin Valdivia was summoned from the bullpen in the inning and managed to hold the line as the Knights headed into the seventh and final frame up 4-3. The Chula Vista, CA native went 1-2-3, snuffing out the Cougars' last chance with a pair of strikeouts.

For Academy of Art, the sweep puts them at 6-10 on the year and 4-2 in PacWest play. MacDonald once again made major contributions to both the ART U offense and defense with her 4-for-7 day at the plate that included two runs scored and puts her at a 10-game hit streak. In addition, she pitched 5.1 innings with just two runs allowed for her first win as a pitcher this year.

“It always feels great to help out my team in any way I can,” MacDonald said. “Whatever job we need to get done, we are all on board to achieve our goal and with that we got the sweep today.”

Stover added key hits in both games, finishing the doubleheader 3-for-7 with a double, two RBIs, and a run scored. She now sports a seven-game hit streak. Hanchey and Thurman each had solid game two performances, combining to go 3-for-7 with two RBIs.

Severely limited offensively in game one, Azusa Pacific was led by Angie Sprague's 2-for-4 game two. The Cougars, who are 5-5 overall and take their first two PacWest losses in program history, had the their top pitching performance come from Kim in game one as she went 8.1 innings with two earned runs on seven hits and 10 strikeouts.

ART U has one more stop on its PacWest roadtrip through Southern California. The Knights visit last year's conference champions California Baptist in a 12:00 PM doubleheader out at Funk Stadium in Riverside, CA.

“We expect to be in a tough fight tomorrow, but we know they are beatable,” Coach Ward said. “We still haven't hit to our potential. I hope we hit to our potential tomorrow. When we do, we will shock people. If we control what we can control and play the ball and not the jersey or the record from last year, we will be in position to win these games.”