BRISBANE, Calif. – Dominican softball split a doubleheader Friday with Academy of Art taking the first game 7-3 before dropping a 1-0 decision in a pitching duel in the second game at Mission Blue Field.
 
Melissa Garcia went 4-for-7 with two RBI and a double while Faith Erb added 3-for-6 performance with a double, an RBI and two stolen bases. Shelby Keltner got the win in the first game pitching a complete game and striking out nine to move to 12-14 on the year.
 
Game one
The Penguins wasted no time in asserting itself on offense as Garcia led off the game with a double to right field and then moving to third on a sacrifice bunt. She came home on a groundball to give Dominican the 1-0 lead. Keltner then retired the side in the bottom of the frame with a pair of strikeouts to maintain the lead.
 
Celeste Salas singled to shallow left field to lead off the second before a muffed catch on a sacrifice bunt put runners on the corners with no outs. Lauren Lapinid stole second to put a pair in scoring position but an attempt to tag up on a fly ball to right field ended in two outs for the Penguins. Faith Erb came through in the clutch as she singled to right center to bring home Lapinid before stealing second to get in scoring position herself. Garcia then roped a ball down the left-field line to bring Erb in for the 3-0 lead. The Urban Knights made the most of a timely error as Audrey Allen doubled to right center and came home an errant throw down to third after a groundout to close the gap to 3-1.
 
Keltner remained impressive striking out six through three innings and Lapinid singled down the right-field line and advanced on a sacrifice bunt to begin the fourth. Garcia singled to center to bring her home to extend the lead back to three. Cailee Grayhorse-Pupecki tripled to right center to lead off the bottom of the frame for ART U and came home on a single by Allen to keep the margin at two after four complete innings.
 
Dominican continued to show resolve with two outs as Salas doubled to left in the top of the fifth and Lapinid followed up with a single down the left-field line that was mishandled allowing Salas to come home for the 5-2 lead. Elle Edeker singled to center and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt for the Urban Knights in the bottom of the inning. Bethany Mitchell then delivered some two-out hitting of her own as she doubled down the right-field line to bring home Edeker but was caught at third trying to stretch the hit to a triple to end the inning with the Penguins leading 5-3.
 
Each team left a runner on in the sixth before Dominican once again flashed its bats in the seventh. Keltner doubled to left center to get into scoring position and Lapinid singled to right center to bring her home followed by a series of wild events saw Lapinid advance to third on the relay throws and score on a fielding error by the left fielder to make it 7-3. Keltner would not need the insurance runs as she needed eight pitches to strike out the first two batters before Edeker popped up to first to end the game.
 
Game two
The second game was dominated by pitching but the Urban Knights struck early Haley Randall drew a walk and Allen doubled down the right-field line to take a 1-0 lead. They would be the only two baserunners to reach safely for ART U as Cadena struck out three and did not allow another hit or walk for the next five innings.
 
The Penguins had their chances as Erb singled trough the right side and stole second before advancing to third on a pitch in the dirt, but the Penguins were unable to bring her in. Dominican got a baserunner to third once again in the fourth but once again could not get any further. The best chance came in the sixth as Lapinid and Keltner singled to lead off the inning and advanced on a sacrifice bunt to get 60 feet from the tie with one out, but a ground out and a line out left them stranded once again as ART U did just enough to win.
 
Dominican will head south to make up a rain delayed doubleheader with Biola on Sunday beginning at 3 p.m. PDT.