Box Score
Oakland, CA -- Throughout the four-game series between the Academy of Art University baseball team and their Dixie State counterparts, the winning team jumped out to an early lead in the first inning and held on to it in all three contests leading up to Wednesday's tilt at Laney College. Unfortunately for the Urban Knights, the theory remained true in the series finale, as the Red Storm scored three in the first inning and held on down the stretch on the way to sending the Knights to a 10-5 loss.

Aaron Garabedian got the start for the Urban Knights, and was in trouble right away, as Drew McLaughlin and Austin Bartleson had back to back singles to start the game. Trey Kamachi followed with a triple, and he scored on a sacrifice fly before Garabedian got three straight outs to end the inning, but the Red Storm had a 3-0 lead.

They would add two more in the third inning, as the top of the order once again gave the Knights fits. Bartleson drew a walk, and Kamachi beat the big shift to his pull side in left and doubled down the right field line, driving in his third run of the game. He would later score on a single from Tyler Blair, giving Dixie a 5-0 advantage.

ART U would get one back in their half of the third, as Daniel Gutierrez led off with a double, taking third when the center fielder overran the ball. Joseph Marchini followed with a deep fly ball to right, which was deep enough to score the speedy Gutierrez, and the Knights were on the board.

Dixie immediately responded with a run in the fourth and another in the fifth, before the Academy of Art bats woke up again in the bottom of that inning. Cody Edmunds led off with an infield single, taking second on a ground ball that deflected off of Red Storm starter Kort Christofferson. Marchini then followed with a single to right field, scoring Edmunds. Marchini then stole second, his eighth in nine attempts, and took third when the ball kicked away. Chucky Cavestany then hit a grounder that was deep enough at third that Marchini was able to score, and it was a 7-3 ballgame.

But in the later innings Dixie was able to capitalize against the Knights bullpen. After scoring two in the seventh to take a 9-3 lead, ART U used another hit from Cavestany to start a late charge. Lyle "Kalani" Brackenridge followed with a bunt single, and Daniel Skinner singled to left to load the bases. Maclane Brady then took a pitch off the midsection to drive in a run, and Jordan Thomas followed with a sacrifice fly, but that was as close as the Knights got, as one more run from the Red Storm in the ninth put it away at 10-5.

Cavestany had two more hits to raise his average to a whopping .487 on the year, while Brackenridge (2-for-4) raised his average to .284 and Edmunds (2-for-4) pushed his up to .429 in 21 at-bats this year. Skinner's single put his average at .340 on the season, while Marchini is already closing in on his hit total from last year, having almost doubled his batting average from freshman to sophomore seasons. Christofferson (1-2) picked up the win for Dixie State, while Garabedian (1-3) was saddled with the loss.

ART U will have the rest of the week off before making up the rained-out second half of the series against Azusa Pacific next Tuesday and then starting a homestand hosting both UH Hilo and Hawaii Pacific University later on next week.