BRISBANE, Calif. – Despite two strong pitching performances, the Saints fell in both games of a doubleheader to Academy of Art, 4-2 and 4-1, to wrap up their road trip to California.
 
Kim Nelson and Lauren Maley combined to throw all 14 innings in the doubleheader, allowing only four earned runs all day; the Saints' (3-6) struggled to break through the Academy of Art's (6-4) pitching, which limited SMU to three runs.
 
The Saints got on the board first, scoring on a bases-loaded walk to Tessani Dixon in the first inning. Art U quickly tied and took the lead in the bottom of the second on a two-out single, followed by a double down the left field line, plating two runners.
 
The Urban Knights added to their lead in the third inning, capitalizing on two Saints' errors, along with two singles to right field, scoring two more runs.
 
After two quick outs in the fourth inning, the Saints started a rally with a walk to Regan Byrd and a single by Sabrina Hicks, which an error by the right fielder on the play, allowed Byrd to come home and score. Macy Uyehara walked as the next batter, setting up runners on first and second, down by two; however, Art U escaped the jam with a groundout.
 
The Saints had the tying run at the plate in the fifth and seventh inning, but were unable to generate any more run support in the 4-2 loss.
 
Lauren Maley got the start for SMU, going 3.1 innings, allowing two hits, no runs in 12 batters faced. Nelson (2-2) picked up the loss after throwing 2.2 innings in relief, allowing four runs, two earned and striking out one in 16 batters faced.
 
Academy of Art scored the first four runs of the game, starting with two in the second inning. A double and single, followed by back-to-back-to-back singles resulted in two runs scoring, with both runs coming with two outs. In the fourth inning, a throwing error by SMU allowed two more runs to score; however, the Saints worked out of a jam with runners on second and third with two groundouts to hold the score at 4-0.
 
Saint Martin's put a scare into Art U in the final inning. After two quick outs, Julia Lucas connected for her first career home run, driving a ball to left field. Nicki DeHan then singled to right center, followed by Paige Miller reaching on a fielding error, putting the tying the run at the plate. Lauren Diuco singled through the left side to load the bases for Lindsay Miller. Unfortunately, L. Miller grounded out to the pitcher to end the ball game.
 
Maley (1-4) earned the loss after starting the second game, going on 1.2 innings, allowing two runs, one earned on six hits while punching out one. Nelson finished off the final 4.1 innings, giving up two runs, one earned as well, and only two hits.
 
On the day, L. Miller led the way with three hits and one runs scored, along with Diuco who finished with two hits. Lucas and Dixon picked up the only two RBIs for SMU.
 
The Saints come home for the first time in the 2018 season on Wednesday, Feb 14 against Pacific Lutheran. The doubleheader is set to begin at 12:00 p.m. with live stats and video links available on smusaints.com.