OAKLAND, Calif. – Academy of Art put together a massive offensive-output in Monday night's series finale against Dixie State. The Urban Knights exploded for 11 runs to hand the Trailblazers their first-ever four-game sweep in conference-play.
 
Despite the 11-4 final score, the bats were slow out of the starting gate as neither side managed to pick up a base hit until the top of the third. Brody Clifford reached for the Trailblazers with a 1-out double, but junior right-hander Angel Mora needed just six more pitches to get out of the frame unscathed.
 
In the following inning, DSU plated three runs, sending all nine batters to the plate to take a 3-0 lead in the fourth. Unfazed, ART U began to chip away at the deficit, starting with one run in the bottom half of the inning: senior outfielder Jackson Murphy came in to score on a wild pitch after lacing a triple to right field to lead off the inning.
 
The following frame sparked a streak of three or more runs in three-consecutive innings for the Urban Knights. In the bottom of the fifth, junior outfielder Taj Dawson came up with a big, 2-RBI single with runners on second and third, tying the game at three runs apiece. Then, with two outs and runners at first and second, senior outfielder Evan Ray stroked a go-ahead RBI double past a diving DSU first baseman. The extra base-hit allowed junior infielder Elijah Smith to cross the plate, giving ART U a 4-3 lead and their first advantage of the contest.

 
The Urban Knights were nowhere near finished with their offensive production as they put up another 3-spot in the bottom of the sixth and then scored four more in the bottom of the seventh. In the sixth, it was junior infielders Robert "Gio" Villanueva, and Donnie Gardiner, along with Murphy who each recorded runs batted in. In the seventh, the Knights sent 10 more batters to the plate with senior infielder Taylor Martin, junior infielder Tanner Marchant, and Murphy once again driving in runs. For Marchant, who entered the game as a pinch-hitter, this was the second time that he drove in two runs in a pinch-hit at-bat this series. The first occurrence was in game one of Sunday's doubleheader when he recorded the first two RBI of his career with a two-out, 2-run double to drive in the winning runs.
 
Now, having put across a season-high 11 runs, all eyes turned to senior righty Chris Petrosie who entered the game in the fifth and needed just six more outs to record his win of the season. The Miami native induced a pair of fly outs and a line out in the eighth, but allowed a Trailblazers run to score in the ninth when a passed ball brought home a runner from third. Petrosie managed to record two outs in the innings before exiting with runners at first and second. His departure made way for junior right-hander Mason Verhees who gave up a base hit to load the bases before forcing the final batter to ground out to shortstop.
 
The 11-4 win put an exclamation point on the four-game series sweep, something that Dixie State had never suffered since joining the PacWest 10 years ago, in 2009. The Urban Knights are now on a 6-game winning streak which is the longest active streak in the conference and with a 12-9 overall and 7-5 conference mark, they sit in fourth-place.
 
Monday night's contest was made possible by multiple big-time performances including 3-hit games for both Murphy and Villanueva. Murphy drove in two runs, scored a run, reached base four times, and recorded a leadoff triple in the fourth. Villanueva compiled two runs a one run batted in. Other strong performances included: Marchant (1-for-1, two RBI), Martin (2-for-4, two runs, one RBI), Dawson (1-for-3, two runs, two RBI), and Ray (1-for-4, one RBI). Altogether, Petrosie tossed a total of 4.2 innings (his longest outing this season) while allowing just one run (unearned) off of two hits while striking out five. As a team, the Urban Knights' 11 runs are the most that they have scored since March 18, 2017 when they defeated Hawaii Pacific 12-7 on the road. It is also the most runs that ART U has scored at home since March 28, 2016 when they recorded a 13-3 victory (also against HPU).
 
Now, with a full head of steam, the Urban Knights will head down to Southern California where they will face their toughest task this season, a four-game series with Azusa Pacific who is ranked No. 1 in the country. The series will begin on Thursday, March 15 at 5:00 p.m.