Box Score Rohnert Park, CA -- After being held off the scoreboard for a majority of the game, the Academy of Art University baseball team staged a late charge against one of the top teams in the region, getting the tying run to the plate in the top of the ninth before falling to Sonoma State University 5-2.
Maclane Brady pitched six scoreless innings out of the bullpen for the Urban Knights to keep them within striking distance.
Sonoma State, ranked 28th in the Collegiate Baseball rankings, took the lead in the first inning off of
Yoshi Uemura (0-2), drawing back to back walks to start the game before two straight hits. Uemura struck out Alex Crosby but allowed another single to make it 4-0 before Nick Boyett came in to finish off the inning. Sonoma made it a 5-0 advantage in the second inning after a single, a steal, and an RBI single by Jackson Stogner.
Brady came in for Boyett in the third and didn't look back, allowing only three base runners. He breezed through the third inning, working around a single, and struck out a pair in the fourth. He retired the side in order in the fifth, worked around an error in the sixth, and retired the side in the seventh as well.
On the other side of the ball, Sonoma used a different pitcher every inning and stymied the Urban Knights offense. Taylor Toccalino (1-0), Blake Sack, Matt Hammonds, and Haydon Turpin blanked the Knights threw the first four innings, with only Sack allowing a baserunner on an error. Jayson Richards pitched the fifth and Aaron GIllis the sixth without allowing a hit, each striking out a batter in the process, and the Knights were down by the same score heading into the seventh.
In the top of the seventh, Stevan Zaharias came in for Sonoma State, and the Knights got another baserunner by way of the error when Joey Marchini hit a ball to second base. He went to second and then to third on a pair of groundouts, and
Ryan Ramirez broke up the combined no-hitter with a single through to left field to get the Knights on the board.
Heading to the ninth, with the score the same, the Urban Knights started their late comeback against Anthony Pezzola. Kalani Brackenridge led off with a walk, and Marchini followed by working an eight-pitch walk. After a sacrifice bunt,
Daniel Skinner walked to load the bases and bring the Ramirez to the plate representing the tying run and bringing in Blake Aldrete with one out. Ramirez fell behind 0-2 but lifted a ball to right field, which scored Brackenridge from third, but Marchini was hung up between second and third, getting tagged out to kill the Knights' rally and end the game.
Ramirez drove in both runs of the game for the Urban Knights, who scored two runs on only one hits, drawing four walks and reaching on two errors. Academy of Art will play their final game of this six-game stretch tomorrow afternoon at home against St. Katherine College with a chance to split the full weekend.
