SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – Academy of Art softball remained within striking distance of Holy Names throughout Friday afternoon, but the Hawks ended up taking both sides of the Pacific West Conference twinbill out at Dominican's Penguin Field. An early HNU lead was nearly matched by ART U in the fourth inning of game one, but late offense pushed Holy Names to a 9-1 victory in six innings. The day's finale was a scoreless pitchers' duel through the first four innings and ended up going the Hawks' way 2-1 following a pair of home runs in the fifth.

GAME 1 – HNU 9, ART U 1 (6)
After scoring two unearned runs following an error in the first inning, Holy Names saw its lead halved in the fourth inning when a walk and a passed ball got junior utility Neenah Pangilinan to second base, setting up the scoring opportunity. Freshman infielder Haley Randall worked a full count then smacked a double to right to score her teammate in what had become a 2-1 ballgame.

The momentum swung heavily to the Hawks thereafter as they plated five runs in the bottom of the fourth and added on single runs in the next two innings to trigger the run-rule, winning 9-1 in the sixth.

GAME 2 – HNU 2, ART U 1
Haighley Kissee (1-1) and senior pitcher Hannah Rose Balke (1-3) combined to allow just two hits through their first four innings in the circle, retiring 15 of the first 16 batters they faced. Balke extricated herself from a bases-loaded jam in the third, but a pair of solo homers came against her and the Urban Knights in the fifth.

Like the first game, ART U came back promptly with a single by graduate student outfielder Gabi Hirsch then a run-scoring double from sophomore outfielder Bethany Mitchell in the sixth, but the Hawks got the outs they needed the rest of the way to wrap up their 2-1 win.

Academy of Art moves to 1-5 both overall and in conference play with the day's results. Mitchell, the lone Urban Knight to register a hit in each contest, finished 2-for-6 with two doubles and one run batted in while Randall added her first double of the season along with a RBI. Balke allowed just two earned runs across 8.1 innings of the doubleheader, striking out two with seven hits allowed.

Now 3-3 both overall and in PacWest action, Holy Names got a combined five RBIs on a 5-for-7 performance from Kissee and Kimberlee Walston in the first game then Sydney Davis (1-0), who tossed 4.0 shutout innings for the win in the opener, was 1-for-2 with one of the aforementioned homers in game two. Kissee picked up her first win in that contest, going a complete 7.0 innings with one earned allowed on three hits and five strikeouts.

The Urban Knights and Hawks will finish their first four-game series tomorrow with a noon doubleheader at Mission Blue Field.