OAKLAND, Calif. – When the fans purchased tickets at Laney College for game one between Academy of Art and UH Hilo, they were in fact booking seats to the Brett Bovee show. The junior right hander no-hit the Vulcans through five and finished with a complete-game shutout en route to a 5-0 win.
 
However, the bats were quiet early on for the Urban Knights as well. UH Hilo's starting pitcher, Morgan West only surrendered two hits through the first four innings and never allowed anyone to reach scoring position during that time.

This all changed in the fifth inning when the heart of ART U's lineup received their second at-bats. Junior catcher Zack Trueblood led off the inning and laced a double down the left field line that rolled into the corner. The very next pitch, senior first baseman Brett Adami laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt down to the third base side. With Adami racing down the line, West made an errant throw that forced the first baseman off of the bag allowing him to reach. With runners at the corners and no outs, sophomore designated hitter Michael Maleski coaxed a four-pitch walk to load the bases. In the following two at-bats, both junior shortstop Payton Milone and senior outfielder Cody Edmunds would reach by way of the fielder's choice which brought in a pair of runs. Two batters later, senior center fielder Joseph Marchini provided the highlight of the inning by driving in a pair with a stand-up triple that shot down the right field line. Redshirt junior Erick Luna put an exclamation point on the inning by hitting a booming double into the left-centerfield gap which allowed Marchini to stroll home from third.
 
Up to this point in the game, Bovee had thrown a nearly perfect five innings, not allowing a single hit and issuing just one walk. The Las Vegas native cruised through the first two outs of the fifth inning before the Vulcans' Edison Sakata hit a slow tapper that hugged the third base line. Senior third baseman Tyler Strawn put forth quite an effort to make the play, crashing in and scooping up the ball with his bare hand to make the throw in one, quick motion. Although on target, the ball arrived just after the runner to give UH Hilo their first hit of the ballgame.
 
Neither side would see a runner cross the plate for the remainder of the ballgame, but Bovee would continue to deal. When it was all said and done, the junior's line looked like this: 9.0  innings pitched, five hits, two walks, and four strikeouts. Bovee's complete-game shutout was his second of the season (also Chico State) and it tied Nate Gercken for a program-best two complete-game shutouts in a season.
 
On the offensive side of the ball, Luna led the Urban Knights, going 3-for-4 with a double and a run batted in. Marchini's three-bagger was his only hit of the contest, but it awarded him a team-high two-runs batted in.
 
The Urban Knights will continue the series with the Vulcans on Saturday with a 1:00 p.m./4:00 p.m. double header.