Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Azusa, CA -- The Academy of Art University baseball team went into Azusa Pacific attempting to get their series in before the rain started coming down, but instead of raindrops it was the Cougars who took advantage of some shaky Urban Knights defense and put ART U's pitchers back on their heels in the second game to sweep Thursday's doubleheader. The Cougars  used a five-run fifth to fuel a 9-1 victory in the opener, while they broke open the floodgates in the second game, a lopsided 18-1 loss for the Knights.

The Knights (4-10, 0-2 PacWest) struck first in the opener, as Joseph Marchini led off the game with a bunt single, his ninth straight game with a hit and extending his streak of getting on base in every game this year. He advanced on another bunt single, and first-baseman Daniel Skinner drove him in to give ART U a 1-0 advantage after their half of the first.

Against Nate Gercken (1-3), the Cougars would eventually score in five straight innings, drawing first blood in the third inning on a double and then a throwing error. In the fourth, Gercken got the first out of the inning but then three hits and four errors later the Cougars had a 6-1 lead. They would add one more in the fifth to chase Gercken, who allowed seven total runs but only four earned.

The Cougars (6-4, 2-0 PacWest) scored single runs off of Maclane Brady and Yoshi Uemura in the sixth and eighth, while the Knights scattered 10 hits against APU starter Josh Staumont (3-1). Marchini had three of those hits, with two bunt singles and a double, while Skinner (2-4) and Chucky Cavestany (2-4) each had multi-hit games.


The second game was less to blame on mistakes in the field than it was the Cougars torching the Knights on offense. Aaron Garabedian (1-2) was bounced early after allowing four hits and six earned runs in only 2.1 innings, giving up a two-run shot in the first inning and four of the five runs scored in the third.

Against the Knights' bullpen the Cougars scored a dozen more runs, scoring a pair in the fifth against Dylan Rodrigues on a homer by Joe Huthsing and then hung another five-spot in the sixth against Brandon Poulson in a rally that included a grand slam by Domenic Biagini. They would add four more in the eighth inning against Alex Kuisel before Drew Keeler finished off the game.

On the other side of the ball, starter Zach Hedges (1-1) only gave up four hits and struck out nine Urban Knights who didn't fare much better against a pair of APU relievers. They manufactured one run in the fourth when Marchini made it a ten-game hitting streak with a leadoff double. He went to third on a single from Jordan Thomas, and then Lyle "Kalani" Brackenridge reached on a fielder's choice to put the Knights on the board.

The Urban Knights will be back in the Bay Area for a series against Dixie State on March 10-12 to continue the opening half of the PacWest season.