Game #12
ART U Urban Knights (3-7) at Holy Names Hawks (5-9)
Wednesday, March 1, 2023 at 5 p.m.
Alameda, Calif. – College of Alameda
Live Video

Game #13
ART U Urban Knights (3-7) vs. Menlo Oaks (4-14, 0-6 GSAC)
Friday, March 3, 2023 at 6 p.m.
Oakland, Calif. – Laney College
Live Stats and Video

Game #14 & 15
ART U Urban Knights (3-7) at Menlo Oaks (4-14, 0-6 GSAC)
Saturday, March 4, 2023 at noon and 3 p.m.
Atherton, Calif. – Cartan Field
Live Stats (Gm1) | Live Stats (Gm2) | Live Video

Game #16
ART U Urban Knights (3-7) vs. Menlo Oaks (4-14, 0-6 GSAC)
Sunday, March 5, 2023 at 1 p.m.
Oakland, Calif. – Laney College
Live Stats and Video

I GOT FIVE ON IT
After rain allowed Academy of Art baseball to finish just two of their four contests last week, the Urban Knights return to the field under sunnier skies this week as ART U prepares for another five games in non-conference action, beginning first with a solo contest against Holy Names on Wednesday before spending the weekend with a four-game set against NAIA opponent Menlo. 

FIRST PITCH
Tuesday's action against the Hawks begins at 5 p.m., while the series opener against the Oaks on Friday will be tossed at 6 p.m. Action continues with a doubleheader on Saturday scheduled for noon and 3 p.m., with the series finale commencing at 1 p.m. on Sunday. 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
Originally scheduled for four games last week, Academy of Art only finished two which started on Feb. 21 against Holy Names where the Hawks scored nine times in the bottom of the first before watching ART U come within two runs thanks to crooked numbers in both the third and fourth. Unfortunately the comeback for ART U would fall short, with the HNU bats getting hot late to down the Knights 19-7. Academy of Art was able to finish the series opener with Simpson on Feb. 25, where the Red Hawks used solid pitching combined with early run support to take down ART U by a final of 7-1. Inclement weather would appear for once again, halting the second game of the series in progress with the third currently postponed. 

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.

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, forcing a doubleheader to be played over two days with the Seawolves coming out victorious in both despite a near ART U comeback in the shortened second game that featured homers from graduate student outfielder Landon Levine and sophomore third baseman Emil Jellinek. 

KNIGHT WATCH
Riding an eight-game hitting streak is graduate student outfielder Landon Levine, though his streak of driving in a run ended at nine games after the loss to Simpson. Overall for the season he boasts the second-best batting average while tying for the team lead in hits by going 14-for-38 (.368), 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), with Torres a seemingly on-base machine with his OBP resting at at a team best .556. 

Matching Levine with the most hits on the squad and the same amount of at-bats is senior outfielder Hayato Niki, as Niki is also batting .368 (14-for-38) with both also having scored 10 runs on the season. Niki is just shy of Levine's hitting streak, with the former checking in with hits in six consecutive games, the first four games of which were multi-hit games. Meanwhile, redshirt junior catcher Liam Rizzo is the only other Knight to reach double-digit runs driven in with 10 RBI, with six of those coming on a pair of homers in consecutive games. Sitting just below the .300 mark is graduate student outfielder Travis Turney (.350, 7-for-24; nine RBI, eight runs scored, three doubles) and sophomore third baseman Emil Jellinek, who has slugged his way to a 1.005 OPS while also batting .281 (9-for-32) with seven runs scored, four RBI, three doubles, and two homers (tied for team lead with Rizzo).

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. 

OH HAWK NO
Winners in four of their past five, Holy Names enters the battle with the Urban Knights with an overall record of 7-3 after sweeping Simpson in a three-game set to start the year before splitting a four-game series with Stanislaus State and a pair with Sonoma State. Most recently, the Hawks took down the Knights in a single game on Feb. 21 when they scored a season-best 19 runs. Overall HNU has hit just above the .270 mark on the season, and there's a trio of Hawks clearing the .300 line with Neko Capsaliaris tops among them at an eye-popping .500 (18-for-36) on the campaign. In addition to that .500 average, Capsaliaris has an OPS of 1.228 and is one of the top run producers by scoring 10 times while driving eight others in, and smacking six doubles in the process. Also eclipsing the .300 mark is Esai Santos (.343, 12-for-35) and Jesus Hernandez (.316, 12-for-38). On the mound, Nicholas Martinez has spun his way to a 2-0 record to go with a 4.61 ERA and 1.24 WHIP, with all marks falling just shy of Eddie Curley who is 3-1 with a 4.00 ERA and a 1.22 WHIP. Though Holy Names won the first matchup of this season and the final game of last season between the two teams on April 24, 2022, Academy of Art has still won four of the past seven and leads the all-time series 34-27. 

MOWING DOWN MENLO
Currently riding a nine-game winless streak are the Oaks of Menlo, most recently coming off of a three-game sweep at the hands of NAIA No. 13 Westmont with all three losses by two runs. For the season Menlo is hitting just .223 (126-for-564), with just a total of 23 extra base hits though that does include five home runs. Three Oaks are hitting above the .300 line with Anthony Masetti tops among them at .322 (19-for-59), while joining him is Jaxon Hotta (.313, 10-for-32) and Erik Quinzon (.303, 20-for-66). Masetti has been doing a little bit of everything this season, scoring 15 runs in addition to two home runs and 15 walks, all of which are team highs. Meanwhile, his 10 RBI are second on the team only to 12 of Jonathan Charboneau, who falls just below the .300 line at .283 (15-for-53) with a pair of doubles and triples (team lead in triples). On the mound the Oaks have logged a 5.60 ERA (93 earned runs in 149.1 innings pitched) and 6.93 strikeouts per nine innings. Menlo has won the only two matchups in the all-time series with ART U. 

SIMPSON PITCHING STIFLES ART U BATS IN SERIES OPENER
Academy of Art baseball came into the opener of a three-game set against Simpson averaging 9.1 hits per game on the campaign, but the ART U bats were kept in relative check on Saturday as Simpson used solid pitching combined with early run support to take down ART U by a final of 7-1. 

LOOKING AHEAD
It's finally time for Pacific West Conference play, and the Urban Knights begin with a familiar opponent as the Urban Knights host Holy Names for a four-game PacWest set from March 10-12.