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| Recap, photos courtesy of Academy of Art University |
"These young women are competing so well right now," said head coach Sonja Garnett. "They are loose but focused and are playing one pitch at a time. They were locked in today."
GAME 1 – ART U 5, NDNU 0
Three batters into the first contest, Academy of Art had established a 1-0 lead as a leadoff single by sophomore outfielder Gabi Hirsch turned into a score on Mitchell's single. Larsen gave up a hit in the first inning, but struck out two and would go on to retire 16 consecutive batters from that point forward.
The Knights would build on along the way with Henderson blasting a two-run homer off a tree beyond the left field fence in the fourth and Hirsch adding a run-scoring single later in that inning. Larsen's seventh strikeout of the game came in the fifth then ART U moved ahead 5-0 on a single by freshman catcher Alyssa Brungage after Larsen's double to lead off the sixth.Though Larsen would surrender a walk to start the seventh, she relied upon her defense for the next two outs before sitting down the final Argonaut on strikes to seal the 5-0 victory.
GAME 2 – ART U 8, NDNU 3
Much like game one, the second contest started with Academy of Art getting on the scoreboard first via two singles and ultimately a run-scoring double from senior infielder Samantha Klune. Larsen added a run batted in on a groundout and the margin was 2-0 after one inning of play.
Notre Dame de Namur came back with an unearned run in the bottom of the second on a single, an error, and later a sacrifice fly. However, ART U would respond by boosting back its advantage on a two-run homer from Mitchell after a leadoff walk was worked by freshman infielder Jayda Alaan.
After Lopez and the Knights defense handled a clean third inning, they ran into trouble in the fourth when three NDNU singles loaded the bases. Lopez worked hard, throwing seven pitches for what finally was an inning-ending strikeout to preserve the 4-1 advantage.
The fifth was Academy of Art's highest-scoring inning of the day and it featured a run-scoring double from Klune, an RBI single off Larsen's bat, and later a run came in on sophomore infielder Gracie Sotomayor's single. When the dust had settled, ART U was on top 7-1 and it became 8-1 in the sixth on a RBI single from Mitchell.Lopez hung tough through a two-run triple by the Argos later in that inning before finishing off the 8-3 victory in the seventh.
Tying the program's single-season wins record from 2010, Academy of Art has now won 13 of its last 14 games and sits at 29-12 overall (12-6 in PacWest play). Four different Urban Knights hit .500 on the day led by Mitchell's 4-for-8 collective performance that included a home run and four RBIs. Seva'aetasi went 3-for-6 with one RBI, Larsen was 3-for-6 with two RBIs and two doubles, and freshman catcher Alyssa Brundage added a 2-for-4 effort as well. Klune doubled twice in a 2-for-7 day that featured two RBIs and Henderson's homer came as part of a 1-for-5 day with two RBIs.
"We have been making solid contact all season, but we are really starting to produce with runners on," said Garnett. "We are adjusting well to the pitchers and umpires and we are seeing good results. Brenna Mitchell, Dominique, Alyssa, and Brooke saw the ball really well today and the team really rallied around their success."
Defensively, Larsen tossed a complete game shutout to give her a PacWest-leading eight shutouts on the year. In her 16th win of the season, she allowed one hit, one walk, struck out nine, and faced only 23 batters (two over the minimum). Lopez also completed 7.0 innings in the circle, allowing three runs on nine hits with two walks and two strikeouts for her eighth win of the year.
The day's results drop Notre Dame de Namur to 11-28 overall this year and 7-11 in conference. Aurora Adams finished the twinbill 3-for-6 and Lauryn Zabat went 1-for-3 with two RBIs in game two.
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