ALAMEDA, Calif. – Academy of Art baseball bounced back after a tough 12-6 game one loss to Holy Names on Friday, as senior right-hander Jayson Summers earned his third win of the season when ART U claimed a 4-2 victory in the second of a Pacific West Conference doubleheader. For Head Coach Dan McDermott, it marks his 100th win in seven seasons at the helm of Academy of Art baseball, while overall it is the 779th victory in his 29 seasons as a collegiate head coach.

Summers set a new career-best in strikeouts (10; previous: nine, twice this season) in his fourth-complete game of the season for the Urban Knights (11-11, 11-11 PacWest), scattering three hits with only one earned run allowed in 7.0 innings pitched. He was provided with run support, as ART U plated four runs on nine hits, tagging HNU starter Ricardo Hernandez with the loss. It was a big improvement from game one, where despite the Knights totaling six runs on 12 hits, three HNU home runs would lift the Hawks to victory. Six of the ART U hits were doubles, tying the program record for most doubles as a team in a single game. It was last done on Apr. 3, 2010 in 10-6 win over St. Joseph's College (NY). 

"I was so happy for Jayson Summers tonight, he pitched so well and held it together for the rest of the team to rally around," McDermott said. "We have had some tough losses lately and they have been by the tiniest of margins. It was great to see Jayson step forward for the team."

Redshirt shortstop Dominic Ruggiero collected consecutive multi-hit games, as he now leads the Knights with 13 such effortss. He totaled four hits on the day, three of which were doubles, with three total RBI and two runs scored. Also collecting four hits on the day was sophomore center fielder Hayato Niki, as he scored a total of three runs while also posting an RBI. Meanwhile, sophomore third baseman Adam Inouye currently owns the longest active reached base streak on the team after notching one hit in each game, having now made it on base safely in 15 consecutive games, four off the season-long and ART U single-season best mark set by Ruggiero.

GAME ONE – HNU 12, ART U 6
HNU struck early, scoring a run in the bottom of the first on a passed ball after the runner had advanced to third on an error. While the next two innings passed with ease, the Hawks exploded with a grand slam in the fourth inning off the bat of Morgan McIntosh. While the Knights would notch their first run of the day with three consecutive two-out hits in the away half of the fifth inning, culminating in an RBI double from graduate student catcher Ryan Gamboa, HNU immediately responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the frame and another four runs in the home half of the sixth.

Not to go away quietly, ART U scratched back two runs in the top of the seventh on an RBI groundout while also capitalizing on an HNU throwing error. However, two Holy Names hits and an ART U fielding error would give the two runs right back in the bottom of the eighth. Not even four ART U hits in the top of the ninth inning, two of which were doubles, could help the Knights pull off the comeback in game one. 

Niki was a perfect 3-for-3 at the dish in game one with a pair of doubles, scoring three runs for the Knights while Ruggiero was 2-for-4 with 3 RBI, a run scored and two doubles. Junior first baseman Vincent Lontz and graduate student outfielder Andrew Shebloski were each 2-for-5, with Lontz also tallying an RBI. 

GAME TWO – ART U 4, HNU 2 (7 INNINGS)
Hitting the scoreboard first again in game two was Holy Names, using a pair of errors along with one hit to produce two runs. The response from ART U came in the top half of the third, as three consecutive hits opened the frame, with the third an RBI infield single from Niki on a 1-0 count. Shebloski would immediately follow with a critical sacrifice fly to knot the game at 2-2. 

After a Ruggiero double into left field with one out in the sixth, junior outfielder Ty Conrad promptly laced a single with two strikes into right field to give ART U their first lead of the day. An insurance run was scored for good measure in the top of the seventh, as Gamboa would single to begin the inning and work his way around the bases to eventually score an RBI single into left field from Shebloski. With the cushion, Summers would go out and easily retire the Hawks in 1-2-3 order in the bottom of the seventh to ice the win. 

Gamboa and Ruggiero each registered two-hit contests, both with a double, while Gamboa scoring two runs to the one of Ruggiero. While Shebloski had only one hit, he had a pair of RBI to go with his 1-for-3 effort, while Conrad collected his team-leading 24th RBI of the season after he went 1-for-4.

The season series between these two teams will come to a conclusion tomorrow from the College of Alameda when ART U hosts the Hawks for a pair of games beginning at 1 and 4:30 p.m.