OAKLAND, Calif. – With at least one hit in six of nine innings, Academy of Art University baseball had numerous chances hosting Sonoma State at Laney College on Tuesday night. The Urban Knights fought back against the Seawolves' first two leads, however, the visitors went on to push across three unearned runs in the second half of the game and won 5-2. ART U would register double digit hits for the third time this season in the loss.

Out of the gate, senior pitcher Josh Lopez (0-0) was strong on the mound in his first start of the season. He retired nine of the first 11 batters he faced, putting together three scoreless innings. Both junior infielder Brennan Mauchline and junior outfielder Jackson Murphy singled in the second, but SSU starter Matt Hammonds struck out the side to quell the rally.

Junior outfielder Alex Fernandez reached third base after his leadoff single and two groundouts in the third, but he was left stranded and Sonoma State would promptly plate their first run in the inning that followed. Two walks and a hit batter loaded the bases and though Lopez induced a double play ball, the run still scored.

A pair of doubles by junior catcher Marciano Reichel and junior infielder Taylor Martin provided ART U's rebuttal in the fourth and the 1-1 game proceeded into the fifth. There, senior lefty Jacob Green (0-1) entered to relieve Lopez after two walks and a sacrifice fly ended up making the score 2-1 SSU. After a walk and a single by junior infielder Michael Maleski, the Seawolves made a pitching change with a 2-2 count to senior infielder Erick Luna, but it did not stop him from scoring the run on a sacrifice fly of his own.

Now 2-2 in the sixth, a pinch runner was caught in a pickoff attempt by Green, but a dropped ball at second base proved particularly costly when the Seawolves' Mitch West delivered a pinch hit run-scoring single for the unearned run. The 3-2 score carried into the eighth where Sonoma State tacked on another run on a throwing error to catch a runner advancing on a wild pitch. The bottom half of the inning saw the go-ahead run come to the plate following singles by Luna and Reichel, but SSU escaped unscathed with a pair of strikeouts and a groundout. Sonoma State scored a third unearned run in the ninth and, in the end, the visitors prevailed 5-2.

Academy of Art moves to 2-6 overall this season, but among the 10 hits were 2-for-4 performances from Reichel, Mauchline, and Murphy. Reichel and Martin each had doubles and Martin along with Luna each had one run batted in apiece. Green took the loss despite allowing one unearned run in 1.2 innings of work.

Finishing up just its second game of the season due to numerous rainouts, Sonoma State improves to 2-0 with Aldo Severson (1-0) picking up the relief win. Jackson Berumen earned the save with three strikeouts in 2.0 innings of work. Hits were limited for the Seawolves, but West ended up being the hero with his 1-for-2 outing that included the game-winning RBI.

The Urban Knights return to Laney College to open a four-game, two-day series with Central Washington on Friday, Feb. 24.