Game #10
ART U Urban Knights (3-6) vs. Simpson Red Hawks (5-9)
Saturday, Feb. 25, 2023 at 5:30 p.m.
Oakland, Calif. – Laney College
Live Stats and Video

Game #11 & 12
ART U Urban Knights (3-6) at Simpson Red Hawks (5-9)
Sunday, Feb. 26, 2023 at noon and 3 p.m.
Oakland, Calif. – Laney College
Live Stats

GUESS WHO'S BACK?
Academy of Art returns to the diamond looking to get back into the win column following a single contest against Holy Names in non-conference action, as the Urban Knights will embark on a three-game series against Simpson University starting with a single game on Saturday before concluding the action with a doubleheader on Sunday. 

FIRST PITCH
First pitch against the Red Hawks will be tossed at 5:30 p.m., while the doubleheader will take place at noon and 3 p.m. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights via the athletics app (Apple App Store, Google Play Store) and on Twitter & Instagram, as well as "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

KNIGHTS' QUEST
The second week of the 2023 campaign saw Academy of Art post a 3-2 mark in their five contests, opening up with exciting solo victories over Fresno Pacific and Central Washington (both non-conference) before taking one of three against Cal State East Bay over the weekend. Trailing 2-0 after the top of the first, a three-run blast from redshirt junior catcher Liam Rizzo in the bottom of the frame ignited a hot day for the bats as ART U totaled 10 runs on 11 hits (five for extra bases) in a 10-4 victory over the Sunbirds. It felt like déjà vu the following time out against the Wildcats as the second three-run big fly in as many days by Rizzo once again sparked the Academy of Art bats, spurring them to a trio of three-run innings (on a season-high 13 hits) in their final three turns at the dish to battle back for a 9-8 win over CWU.

Moving into just their second series of the season against the Pioneers, CSUEB took the series opener despite action being knotted at 2-2 after two innings, as Cal State East Bay totaled multiple runs in each of the first five innings of a 13-8 win. Meanwhile ART U leveled the series in the second half of the day by totaling 13 runs, scoring in each of the last five innings (including a four-spot in the third) of the shortened second game to defeat CSUEB 13-5 (seven innings), giving junior pitcher Koh Maeda win in an ART U uniform. The rubber match was an intense contest that had an equally dramatic finish, but despite ART U leading twice in the later innings including in the top of the extra 10th frame, the Pioneers rallied to score two in the bottom of the inning and walk off winners 7-6 (10 innings) for the series win. Continuing into Tuesday, Holy Names scored nine times in teh bottom of the first before watching ART U come within two runs thanks to crooked numbers in both the third and fourth, but then pulled away late to down the Knights by a 19-7. 

Earlier this week it was announced that senior outfielder Hayato Niki was picked as the Pacfiic West Conference Player of the Week for the first time in his career (first weekly award of ART U season). Notching multiple hits in four out of the week's five games, Niki tied his career high and the ART U program record for hits in a game when he went a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs scored in the win over Central Washington (first ART U four-hit game of the season). In the series opener against CSUEB Niki did a bit of everything, going 2-for-3 in his trips to the dish while scoring twice, driving one in and swiping a his only bag of the week. His bat continued to sizzle in game two where he was 3-for-4 with a season-high three runs scored and his first two doubles of the campaign, while the series finale saw Niki end 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. 

It was an 0-3 start to the 2023 season for Academy of Art despite scoring a total of 16 runs (twice scoring six runs in a game), as the Urban Knights began the year with a four-spot in the home half of the first in the season opener against Stanislaus State, but the Warriors fought back and captured the lead in the top of the eighth before holding on for a 7-6 win. Rain made an unwelcome appearance during what was scheduled to be a three-game series against Sonoma State, halting game one of the set after the third inning with the Knights again enjoying a lead by a score of 5-1, forcing play to resume again on Sunday. 

In the continuation, a pair of home runs that included a three-run homer in the top of the fifth helped key a Seawolves comeback that saw them tie the game in the top of the ninth before earning the 7-6 victory in 10 innings. In game two of the doubleheader (scheduled for seven-innings), Sonoma State built a five-run lead but would not stay comfortable for long as ART U produced a bit of comeback magic of their own, with a pair of homers from graduate student outfielder Landon Levine and sophomore third baseman Emil Jellinek highlighting the way. However, the comeback would fall just short as the Seawolves shut the door for a 6-4 win. 

KNIGHT WATCH
Riding a seven-game hitting streaks is graduate student outfielder Landon Levine, who additionally has a recorded at least one RBI in every game that he's played in. Overall for the season he boasts the second-best batting average while tying for the team lead in hits by going 13-for-34 (.382), and leads the Knights with 14 total runs driven in on the campaign. He trails only graduate student catcher Peter Torres in average at .385 (10-for-26). Torres has been an on-base machine, with his on-base percentage resting at at a team best .556. 

Matching Levine with the most hits on the squad is senior outfielder Hayato Niki, as his average checks in third at .371 (13-for-35), while redshirt junior catcher Liam Rizzo has been a top run producer as his 10 RBI trails only Levine on Academy of Art. In all there are four Urban Knights above the .300 mark on the season, as joining that group are graduate student outfielder Travis Turney (.350, 7-for-20; nine RBI, eight runs scored, three doubles). Posting the best OPS is sophomore third baseman Emil Jellinek, slugging his way to a 1.069 OPS while also batting .286 (8-for-28) with seven runs scored, four RBI, three doubles, and two homers.

From the hill, the trio of junior righty Devan Quesada, junior righty Koh Maeda, and junior right-hander Fernando Dueñas all have picked up a win on the season, with Quesada the first to earn his as the winning pitcher of record in the victory against FPU. Quesada also holds the lowest earned run average on the Urban Knights, as he has allowed only eight earned runs (12 total runs) leading to a 4.08 ERA and 1.03 WHIP, and has fanned 15 hitters in just 17.2 innings pitched while holding opposing hitters to just a .203 batting average. Matching his 1-0 record is Maeda, who picked up the only win of the series against Cal State East Bay by tossing 5.0 strong innings and allowed only two runs (one earned), and he sits just behind Quesdada with a 4.22 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. Two others have totaled double-digit punch outs, with lefty sophomore Brian Kraft striking out 12 over four appearances while Dueñas has carved up 10 hitters in a team-high six appearances. Tossing a pair of scoreless innings in relief was the duo of junior lefty Robert Perez and freshman Ricky Salas, as Salas fanned a pair without allowing a hit. 

RED HAWK DOWN
Simpson comes in off a recent win over over Bushnell University on Feb. 18, though they have still lost four of their last six games overall. As a unit the Red Hawks are hitting .297 (120-for-404), averaging 5.5 runs per game while already having slugged nine homers on the year. While five Red Hawks are above the .300 line, only one is above .400 as Senituli Taufahema tops the team by batting .434 (23-for-53) with 11 runs scored, five doubles, one triple, and five RBI. Meanwhile, Logan Gomes has provided much of the power along with a solid average, hitting .383 (18-for-47) with 10 runs scored, four doubles, two triples, four homers and 10 RBI. On the hill, Connor Caporale holds a perfect 2-0 record to go with a 3.20 ERA (seven earned runs in 19.2 innings), while Jaydon Tomas holds the lowest ERA at 2.57 (four earned runs in 14.0 innings) to go with a 1-0 record. Though Simpson won the first ever meeting between the two, Academy of Art has won each of the last four and leads the all-time series, 4-1. 

URBAN KNIGHTS DRAW CLOSE, BUT HNU BATS HOT LATE IN WIN
Academy of Art baseball showed grit in battling back from an early deficit in a solo non-conference clash against Holy Names, scoring seven runs between the third and fourth innings to trail by two, but the HNU bats stayed hot and pulled away late for a 19-7 win on Tuesday.  

ON THIS DAY
On Feb. 25, 2011, Academy of Art baseball put forth an impressive team effort to defeat Dixie State in the second half of a doubleheader, the #9 team the West Region, with Johnathan Robbins setting a then-school record with four stolen bases in to earn a split of the day. On Feb. 26, 2022, ART U received a brilliant pitching performance from senior right-hander Collin Carriger in the opening contest of a four-game set with nationally-ranked No. 23 Concordia, as he struck out an ART U record 16 batters before the Knights were able to walk off as winners on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the ninth by a 3-2 final.

LOOKING AHEAD
Next week will see another solo contest against Holy Names on Wednesday, Mar. 1 before taking on Menlo in a three-game series beginning on Friday, Mar. 3.