Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Oakland, CA -- The Academy of Art University baseball team came back in both games of Thursday's doubleheader against Azusa Pacific, but late rallies by the Cougars left the Knights looking to Friday to get even. The Urban Knights had a strong pitching performance from Aaron Garabedian in the first game but fell 6-4, while the second game saw ART U take a late lead only to give it right back in the final inning of a 7-3 loss.

Garabedian made his final start of the season and was strong in his longest outing of the year. He posted extremely quick innings of seven, eight, twelve, and thirteen pitches, but also worked out of trouble a couple times. His team gave him an early lead, manufacturing a run in the first inning. Henderson singled to center, stole second, and went to third on a sac bunt. Ryan Ramirez followed with a solid single to left to bring him in.

The only blip on Garabedian's day was in the third inning. After an error by Lyle "Kalani" Brackenridge, the Cougars cobbled together a rally that led to the eventual big hit, a double by Ryan Henley that knocked in two runs on the way to a four-run inning, all of which were unearned.

ART U  would tie up the game in the fifth inning, getting back-to-back singles from Chris Holmes and Joey Marchini. After a sac bunt, Henderson singled and then stole second, setting up Brackenridge, who hit a single to center that scored the tying run, and the score was 4-4 after the fifth.

It would stay that way until the eighth inning after Garabedian got the leadoff batter out on one pitch. Turning it over the bullpen, Nick Giotta grounded out but Joel Belk hit a single to center. On the first pitch, catcher Joe Huthsing hit a fly ball that just kept carrying up and out to left field, giving the Cougars a 6-4 lead.

That would be the final score, as the Knights got the tying run in scoring position in the bottom of the ninth. But Henderson struck out on a close pitch in a full count, and Brackenridge grounded out to short to saddle the Knights with the loss.

Chris Holmes had a 3-for-3 game and was also hit by a pitch while Brackenridge was 2-for-4 with a pair of RBIs and Henderson had two hits and two runs scored. Garabedian went 7.1 innings and lowered his ERA to 2.97 on the season, a single-season record for ART U. Giotta (1-1) took the loss for Academy of Art, while Caleb Badder (2-1) had the win for APU and Royal Bradley picked up the save.


The second game was a pitcher's duel between two lefties, as Samm McAlear had his best-ever start for the Urban Knights against Nate Nammany of the Cougars. APU got a run in the second inning when Richie Brown led off with a single. He moved to third on a double by Ryan Henley, and scored on a groundout by Joel Belk to make it a 1-0 game.

Academy of Art got that run back in the third inning, as Henderson reached on a throwing error and then advanced to second as the ball skipped down the right-field line. He promptly stole third, and Brackenridge knocked him in with a sacrifice fly to tie the game.

APU came back in the fourth to go back ahead, as McAlear allowed a homer to left center to Matt Kimmel. But the long ball came back to help the Knights in the sixth inning. Brackenridge doubled to center and Ryan Ramirez took a 2-1 pitch and hit a towering home run to left to put the Urban Knights ahead 3-2.

That lead didn't last for long, however, as the Cougars would score five runs on two hits and two errors against three different pitchers in the top of the seventh inning. The Knights, who were shorthanded in the bullpen, had Uemura start the inning, but he hit the leadoff batter. Wade Broadstreet came in but couldn't record an out, allowing a hit and the two errors. Henderson came in to his third game on the mound this year to finally shut the door, but the Knights were now down 7-3. They couldn't mount a rally in the bottom of the inning, getting a single but grounding in to a double play, and then drawing a walk before the game ended with the Knights going down.

Brackenridge was a perfect 2-for-2 with a sacrifice fly for ART U, raising his average to .298 on the year. Ramirez was 1-for-3 with two RBIs and the home run. McAlear went 4.1 innings, striking out two while only allowing the two runs. Broadstreet (0-8) took the loss for ART U while Namanny (4-4) pitched six innings to get the win for Azusa Pacific.

The season finale for both of these teams will be tomorrow, with the first game of the doubleheader starting at 10:00 AM. The Urban Knights will honor their three seniors, Ryan Donahoe, Stefen Henderson, and Chris Holmes, with a ceremony in between the two games.