TURLOCK, Calif. – There was drama aplenty for Academy of Art softball throughout its first day of the Tournament of Champions and, when the day's final run was scored, excitement ensued as the Urban Knights stood victorious in matchups with both Saint Martin's and Cal State East Bay. Against SMU to start, a six-run fifth inning briefly put ART U in front, but the Saints would answer and eventually extra innings were needed where senior catcher/infielder Lauryn Henderson's two-run homer in the eighth was the difference in an 11-9 triumph. A one-run game much of the way, the Knights' next contest favored CSUEB up until the seventh where run-scoring singles by junior outfielder Bethany Mitchell and junior catcher/utility Cassandra Mittman walked Academy of Art off as 3-2 winners.

GAME 1 – ART U 11, SMU 9 (8)
Following singles by sophomore infielder Haley Randall and senior catcher/infielder Lauryn Henderson in the opening frame, freshman infielder Elle Edeker sent a double down the right field line to score the Urban Knights' first run of the tournament. Though junior pitcher Haley Arnold-Jolley (1-7) kept Saint Martin's off the scoreboard in the bottom half, the Saints would strike for four on five hits in the second.

With two outs and a runner on in the third, senior utility Alyssa Rasmussen helped get one run back for Academy of Art with a single up the middle then, a scoreless inning later, the Knights batted around in an eventful fifth inning. Three consecutive singles by freshman utility Elle Edeker, Rasmussen, and sophomore pitcher/infielder Katie Humphreys closed the gap to one run at 4-3 then, after the game was tied when graduate student utility Nina Vallejos was hit, senior catcher Alyssa Brundage brought everyone home with a three-run double. Mittman provided a sacrifice fly with the second out and ART U was now up 8-4.

SMU came right back with four runs on two hits and an error in their half of the fifth, but from there, Arnold-Jolley, who had returned after sophomore Jolene Rhoades (4-13) had come on in relief, was able to retire five in a row, getting her team into extra innings where the international tie-breaker rule was triggered with a runner being placed at second base to start each frame.

Academy of Art scored said runner thanks to an error, but the Knights did not stop there as Henderson crushed a 1-2 pitch beyond the left field fence, pushing her team farther in front 11-8 with the two-run blast, the 21st homer of her career (tied for second in program history and one off the record). Though the Saints made it interesting with a run-scoring groundout thereafter, the final out was fittingly made to Henderson and ART U's third straight win was of the extra innings variety 11-9. 

GAME 2 – ART U 3, CSUEB 2
Though both starting pitchers faced multiple baserunners in the first inning, Arnold-Jolley and her Cal State East Bay counterpart did not allow a run to touch home plate. The game's first score occurred in the second, however, when an error in the outfield proved costly, resulting in a 1-0 lead for the Pioneers.

On in relief to begin the third, Rhoades and her defense managed to get three consecutive outs with the bases loaded to keep it a single-score ballgame, but CSUEB made use of a walk, a groundout, and a single for its second run in the fourth. That was soon met with the Knights' first score as a Henderson leadoff single was cashed in by Rasmussen's single to first base.

A Mitchell single and Randall double nearly tied things up in the fifth, but Academy of Art would find itself down in a 2-1 contest as the bottom of the seventh got underway. There, sophomore outfielder Maddie Sticka opened with a single up the middle and, one error later, there were runners on the corners. Mitchell's second single of the afternoon subsequently tied the game at 2-2 and, with the bases loaded after Randall's single, Mittman connected for the walk-off single down the left field line to send her team to a 3-2 victory.

With its fourth consecutive win, Academy of Art is now 6-28 overall and had a huge day from Henderson who went 5-for-7 with two runs batted in, a homer, and four runs scored. Randall's hitting streak elevated to 10 games with a pair of two-hit outings in a 4-for-9 day while Mittman added two RBIs with her 3-for-7 day. Rasmussen also drove in one in each contest, finishing 3-for-8, and Brundage was responsible for three RBIs in her 1-for-4 opening contest. Humphreys was 3-for-5 with a RBI of her own in that one and Edeker ended 2-for-4 with a teammate driven in as well. Both Sticka and Mitchell offered pairs of hits in the second game.

Defensively, Arnold-Jolley claimed the win to start the day with two earned runs allowed in 5.0 innings and one strikeout. Rhoades surrendered just a single run in her 5.0 innings against CSUEB to collect the victory.

Saint Martin's dropped to 16-11 overall following their loss to ART U despite Natalie Zender's 2-for-4 effort that included three RBIs. Cal State East Bay fell to 17-14 with its defeat though a pair of Pioneers had two hits apiece.

The Urban Knights return to Pedretti Park tomorrow for the second day of action in the Tournament of Champions which features a 9 a.m. first pitch against Simon Fraser on Field 3 followed by a 4:30 p.m. first pitch against Western Oregon on Field 1.