SAN FRANCISCO – In quite the pitcher's duel, Tuesday's game against SF State was not decided until the 10th-inning. Junior catcher Zak May was the hero in this one as he was responsible for both of the Urban Knights' runs, collecting runs batted in in both the first and 10th-innings.
 
In the top of the first, May's sacrifice fly to left scored junior infielder Elijah Smith from third, giving ART U a 1-0 advantage over the Gators. In the bottom of the frame, junior right-hander Mason Verhees went to work in his first start of the 2018 season. The San Diego native was dominant from the get-go, striking out the side in the first inning, setting all three batters down swinging. Verhees went a total of 5.0 innings, accumulating six strikeouts, while allowing six hits and only one walk.
 
It was junior righty Donnie Gardiner who came in to relieve Verhees in the top of the sixth inning and he took it through two outs in the ninth. Gardiner was lights out in his appearance as he did not allow a hit in his first four innings of work. However, in the ninth frame, SF State finally managed to get on the board: their leadoff batter doubled down the left-field line and later scored with two outs when a single brought him home. With two outs, junior right-hander CJ Romero took over and managed to record the final out by way of a groundout to first base.
 
As the game moved into the 10th, Academy of Art found themselves in familiar territory: in their last outing against Central Washington, the Urban Knights gave up a final-inning lead, only to fall after two extra innings. Today however, they found redemption: leading off the inning, Smith managed to get aboard by way of a four-pitch walk. Two pitches later, junior infielder Josh Carlin laid down a sacrifice bunt which paved the way for May who sent the second pitch he saw into center field for his first double and extra-base hit of the season. On the play, Smith came in to score what would prove to be the winning run and he now leads the team with five overall.
 
In the bottom of the inning, Romero only needed eight pitches to seal the deal while setting two batters down by way of a swinging strikeout. As a result, the San Jose, Calif. native received his first win in an ART U uniform, giving the Urban Knights a 2-3 record overall.
 
Academy of Art will now prepare for their next series, a four-game set that they will host against Simpson that begins on Saturday, February 17.