HAYWARD, Calif. – After splitting the first pair of games against Simpson University, Academy of Art did not hold back on the second and final day of the series: the Urban Knights put up some big-time statistics on both sides of the ball, accumulating 24 hits on offense and a combined, 20 strikeouts from four pitchers to earn the doubleheader sweep and their first series victory of 2018.
 
GAME ONE (12 IN): ART U 4, SU 3
 
ART U did not get on the board until the third inning, but they already found themselves trailing by three. In the bottom of the frame, senior infielder Taylor Martin delivered a two-out single to left field to deliver both runners from second and third.

 
Now trailing by just one run, the Urban Knights pulled even four innings later when senior catcher Marciano Reichel hit a pinch-hit, sacrifice fly to deep right-center to score senior infielder Brennan Mauchline from third.
 
With the score tied 3-3, senior right-hander Chris Rost took over for senior left Alex Fernandez who went 7.0 innings strong. In his second appearance of the season, Rost was stellar in his 5.0 innings of work. The Dixon, Calif. native finished out the contest, pitching through the 12th-inning, while racking up an impressive, 10 strikeouts while allowing just four hits and no walks. In fact, both Fernandez and Rost were able to stay within the strike zone all day as neither hurler allowed a batter to reach by way of base-on-balls.
 
It took until the 12th for things to be decided in game one out at Pioneer Field, but junior catcher Zak May found himself in a familiar role when he stepped to the plate with two outs and a runner on, three innings into extras: less than one week prior, May drove in the game-winning run in the 10th-inning against SF State. The Albuquerque, N.M. native came through once again, delivering a perfectly-placed base hit into center field which none of the four converging fielders were able to run down. As a result, Martin was able to score all the way from first to help the Urban Knights walk off by the score of 4-3.
 
GAME TWO: ART U 10, SU 3
 
Carrying their momentum over from the first contest, the Urban Knights refused to be denied the series victory. To do so, ART U put on a slugfest to behold: Academy of Art scored all 10 of their runs in the first three innings and amassed a total of 12 hits during that time. One of the biggest highlights was in the bottom of the second when junior infielder Elijah Smith hit a monster home run over the left field wall for his first-career homer in an Urban Knights uniform.
 
Game two's starter, junior right-hander Angel Mora, looked strong in his outing, tossing 5.0 innings for his first win of the season. Mora allowed two earned runs off of just two hits while striking out six and walking three. Junior righty Donnie Gardiner finished out the game with 2.0 innings of relief and he was responsible for just one run on two hits, one walk, and one strikeout.
 
On the offensive-end, The Urban Knights finished the game with a season-high, 13 hits which is also their largest mark since totaling 18 on April 22, 2017 at Fresno Pacific. Smith went 3-for-3 in the game with three runs, a triple, a home run, a run batted in, a walk, and a stolen base to top things off. Senior outfielder Jackson Murphy also recorded three hits while collecting a pair of runs and an RBI.
 
Academy of Art closes out their non-conference portion of the schedule with a 5-4 record. They will now prepare for their first PacWest series when they host Fresno Pacific on Thursday, February 22 at 6:00 p.m.