GAMES #33 & 34
ART U Urban Knights (4-28/4-16) vs. Patten Lions (17-18)
Friday, Apr. 8, 2011 at 11:00 AM
Alameda, CA - College of Alameda
GAME #35
ART U Urban Knights (4-28/4-16) vs. Patten Lions (17-18)
Sunday, Apr. 10, 2011 at 1:00 PM
Alameda, CA - College of Alameda
Game Notes
ART U MEETS PATTEN FOR THREE GAMES
The Academy of Art University baseball team wrapped up an intense stretch of baseball last Friday and now looks ahead to a three-game stint with a non-conference opponent in Patten University.
FIRST PITCH
The Knights and Lions open up their three-game non-conference series on Friday, Apr. 8 with a doubleheader beginning at 11:00 AM. The series finale then comes Sunday, Apr. 10 at 1:00 PM. All games are scheduled to be held at College of Alameda in Alameda, CA. Live Stats and live score updates on the Academy of Art University Athletics Twitter will be available for all games in this series.
KNIGHT WATCH
Currently ranked second in the entire PacWest Conference in ERA (3.32), freshman righty Wade Broadstreet (0-4) has made a major impact for ART U this season. He picked up a no-decision last week, but pitched magnificently, going 8.0 innings with just one run allowed. Offensively, junior infielder Kenny Rollins, Jr. made the PacWest Weekly Top 10 Honor Roll this past week for a five-game hit streak that has raised his batting average to .290. The tandem of junior infielder Zach Babitt and senior infielder Darnell Quinney have combined to post 39 runs batted in and currently lead the team with .324 and .316 batting averages respectively.
SCOUTING THE LIONS
After starting the season 1-4, Patten has effectively righted the ship and currently sports a nearly .500 record. The Lions took three games from Hawaii Pacific in mid February and then were 2-3 in a five-part series with Hawaii-Hilo on the same roadtrip. Patten was hot to start play in the NAIA Cascade Collegiate Conference and recently split in series with Oregon Tech and Simpson. Offensively, the team is led by infielder Alberto Gonzalez who has started all but two games and is currently batting .400. The teams RBI leaders are outfielder Brian Mouton and infielder David Whiteside who each have 17. In terms of pitching, the Lions' top starter is righty Isaac Duran (3-3) who offers a 3.30 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 60.0 innings pitched.
ACADEMY OF ART BATTLES VALIANTLY IN HILO SERIES
In a meeting of two teams barely separated in the PacWest standings coming in, ART U had several close games against Hawaii-Hilo this past week. The contests would be the Urban Knights' ninth through 14th of a stretch where they played 14 games in 13 days.
Both teams' starting pitchers dueled through the first eight frames of game one on Mar. 30. When extra innings were needed with a tie score, 1-1, Hawaii-Hilo managed to push across a run on three hits and an error in the 11th to capture the 2-1 victory. In the second contest that day, the Knights assumed an early 1-0 advantage again, but the visitors went on a late-game rally to take the 8-4 end result.
ART U baseball would continue its success under the lights with a 9-5 win on day two though. After scoring six runs in the second inning, Academy of Art never looked back and fended off a late comeback by the Vulcans en route to the win. At one point, senior right-handed starter Darnell Quinney (1-3), who picked up the victory after 5.2 strong innings, retired 10 consecutive Hawaii-Hilo batters with three of his four strikeouts coming in that span. Junior righty Brandon Kistler logged his second save of the year by helping maintain the ART U lead in the final 3.1 innings.
In a short turnaround the next day, Apr. 1, Hawaii-Hilo had the upper hand 9-0 in game one and then managed to rally late in the second contest to win 7-5. Academy of Art led 4-1 midway through game two and nearly mounted a comeback with one run in the seventh, but UHH held on.
LOOKING AHEAD
When ART U returns to PacWest play next week, the Knights will play their final home series of the season. Academy of Art hosts Grand Canyon for four games over Apr. 15-16 at Laney College.
