HAYWARD, Calif. – Riding the backs of a formidable offense and freshman pitcher
Hannah Rose Balke's second-career no-hitter, the Urban Knights swept Holy Names for their fourth and fifth-consecutive PacWest victories.
GAME ONE: ART U 9, HNU 0
Balke already achieved history when she became the first softball pitcher at Academy of Art to throw a no-hitter against a Division II opponent on
March 10 against Notre Dame de Namur. Little did she know, that when stepping into the circle to face Holy Names on Sunday, she would repeat her feat, tossing her second no-hitter in less than a month.
A pair of walks and an error in the second kept Balke from being perfect, but her achievement was impressive nonetheless. The Oak Park, Calif. native needed just 69 pitches to mow through five innings and she struck out five Hawks in the process.
With a big offensive showing, the Urban Knights backed Balke's outing with nine runs including seven in the top of the fifth which allowed ART U to run-rule HNU. Sophomore infielder
Brenna Youngquist played a big part in the scoring on Sunday, recording an RBI in the first and fifth innings while going 2-for-3 with a run scored. Academy of Art compiled six hits in their seven-run fifth including big contributions from sophomore catcher
Taylor Ah Mook Sang and freshman infielder
Gracie Sotomayor.
Needing just three more outs to seal to no-no, Balke cruised through the bottom of the fifth, inducing three flyouts on nine pitches. Four Knights enjoyed multi-hit games to total 11 knocks altogether. Leading the way was Sotomayaor who collected three hits in four at-bats including two runs and two RBI.
GAME TWO: ART U 11, HNU 5
The Urban Knights wasted no time in jumping out in front of Holy Names in game two, scoring five runs in the top of the first. With two outs and the bases loaded, freshman infielder
Adrianna Rupright hit a bases-clearing double (her second two-bagger of the season) to give ART U a 3-0 lead. Then, junior infielder
Samantha Klune hit a 1-2 pitch over the centerfield wall to extend the Knights' advantage to five runs with her second home run of the season.
Holy Names responded in the bottom of the second with their first runs of the day. With two outs and a pair of runners on base, HNU's Clavelle doubled to right-center to make it 5-2.
ART U fired right back however, scoring in the top of the third. With one out and a runner on third, Rupright notched her career-high, fourth RBI of the contest with a sac fly to center, driving in Youngquist.
With the score now at 6-2, the Hawks continued to fight back with another two-run frame in the bottom of the inning. However, Academy of Art stretched their advantage to six runs in the top of the fourth, scoring four runs while sending eight batters to the plate.
Despite adding another run to their tally in the bottom of the fifth, ART U responded with one of their own in the seventh. Unable to overcome the deficit, the Knights completed the sweep with an 11-5 win in game two.
Although she did not start the second contest, Balke played a big part in game two as well. With runners on first and second in the third inning and two runners already in, she entered the fray and put a stop to the scoring with a strikeout and a groundout. She went on to pitch 4.2 innings, allowing just one earned run on four hits and struck out three batters while walking two. Balke is now 17-7 on the year with 14 complete games and a 2.90 earned run average. Both her wins and complete games lead the conference.
Klune, sophomore infielder
Juliana Lopez, and junior infielder
Brenna Mitchell all performed well at the plate, recording a pair of hits each.
Academy of Art is now back to a .500 overall winning record at 21-21 and are 13-11 in the PacWest. The Urban Knights have now won five-consecutive conference matches and are a perfect, 4-0 since returning from the Tournament of Champions. ART U will face Holy Names again on April 15 when they host the Hawks in Brisbane, Calif. with a Noon and 2:00 p.m. doubleheader.
