AZUSA, Calif. – Academy of Art regularly put bat to softball during its Pacific West Conference doubleheader on Wednesday, but Azusa Pacific broke early ties and scored the runs necessary for 7-4 and 4-1 victories at Cougar Softball Field.

GAME 1 – APU 7, ART U 4
The Cougars began the day with a run in the first inning, but that was countered when the Knights responded in the second with leadoff single from freshman infielder Riannah Maulupe and a walk to Vaughan before the game-tying run came in on contact from graduate student outfielder Cailee Grayhorse-Pupecki.

Azusa Pacific proceeded to build a 7-1 advantage over the three innings that followed, but ART U did not let that score stand as a leadoff single by junior infielder/catcher Olivia Glover began a seventh inning rally that soon featured back-to-back run-scoring doubles off the bats of senior utility Alexis Folks and junior infielder Audrey Allen. The comeback included another run thanks to Maulupe but would end there with APU prevailing 7-4.

GAME 2 – APU 4, ART U 1
After the Cougars' sacrifice fly got the scoring started in the first inning of the second contest, a triple by Grayhorse-Pupecki was quickly cashed in on a single by freshman outfielder Danielle Shinko to tie things up 1-1 in the second.

A solo homer by APU broke the tie in the bottom of the inning and, despite pairs of singles being delivered in both the fourth and fifth frames, Academy of Art could not connect on the game-changing swing. Azusa Pacific scored singular runs in the fifth and sixth before finishing on top 4-1.

ART U heads into the final game of its Southern California road trip with a 6-32 overall record and 4-19 conference record. Allen finished the day 6-for-7 with a double while Folks (3-for-8) added hits in each contest including a double, Maulupe went 1-for-4 with a run batted in during the first contest, and Shinko was 1-for-3 with another RBI in the second game.

APU, now 21-15 and 17-8 in PacWest action, was led by Caitlin DeCanio (1-for-3, home run, three RBIs) in the opener then Bella Fraser (3-for-3, home run, two RBIs) in game two. Game one was won by Analise Reyes (4-1) after she allowed one run on five hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 4.0 innings. Mia Castillo (5-5) captured the win in the day's finale, surrendering one run on 11 hits and two strikeouts across 7.0 innings of work.

The third and final game of the series comes tomorrow with first pitch set for 3 p.m. from Cougar Softball Complex.