HILO, Hawaii – Academy of Art baseball (7-12, 3-3 PacWest) opened a four-game set with the Vulcans (2-4, 2-2 PacWest) Saturday evening and set the tone for the series with a win in game one. After staving off UH Hilo's comeback in the opening contest, the Vulcans managed to return the favor in the night cap, taking the second matchup by a score of 5-0.   
 
GAME ONE:
 
The Urban Knights and UH Hilo engaged in quite the back-and-forth battle in game one where both sides combined for 11 runs.
 
ART U did most of their damage in the opening frame, jumping out to a four-run lead after sending eight batters to the plate and collecting runs batted in from senior infielder Erick Luna, junior outfielder Izac Bauer, and junior catcher Marciano Reichel.
 
With the big lead, senior right-hander Brett Bovee was able to excel through the first four innings of his fifth start of the season. During that time, the Las Vegas native only allowed one hit in the first inning and was perfect through the next ten batters. It was not until the bottom of the fifth when Bovee began to run into trouble, surrendering three hits in the frame and allowing two runs to cross the plate.
 
In the top of the sixth, the Knights were able to get one of their runs back thanks to a single to center field from Luna that drove in senior outfielder Alex Fernandez.
 
In the bottom of the inning, the Vulcans managed to put two more runs on the board which forced Bovee to make an early departure. With the bases loaded and one out, senior left-hander Jacob Green came in and was able to escape the jam after only allowing one run to score.
 
Now trailing by just one run (5-4), UH Hilo was able to complete the comeback in the seventh inning after scoring a run off of a double which scored the runner from first base.
 
After neither side managed to plate a run in the eighth, the game headed to the ninth where the Urban Knights were able to put together a rally which ultimately sealed the win. With runners on first and third and two outs, Bauer got himself caught in a run-down between first and second which allotted Luna enough time to run home and score the winning run.
 
Senior lefty Alexander Kuisel, who had entered the game to start the eighth inning earned his second win of the season and is now 2-1 on the year. Reichel, Bauer, and junior infielder Michael Maleski each tallied two hits while Luna went 1-for-4 while scoring and driving in two.  
 
 
GAME TWO:
 
After posting a near-complete game and getting the win in his last start against Concordia, junior righty Luke Lacy went the distance on Saturday. However, similar to Academy of Art in game one, the Vulcans managed to score four runs in the first inning of game two. The deficit was too large to overcome for the Urban Knights, and Lacy found himself on the wrong end of a 5-0 score.
 
ART U managed to put a runner in scoring position with less than two outs in the fourth and sixth innings, but their chances were squandered each time by Hilo's Dylan Spain who tossed 7.0 innings without allowing a run and only surrendered six hits.
 
Academy of Art will look to take the lead in the series with a single game on Sunday evening set to take place at 6:00 p.m. HT.