OAKLAND, Calif. – Two big innings, one for each team, contained all of the offense while pitching was in control for the rest of the way in the series finale between Academy of Art baseball and NAIA opponent Menlo. Striking last was ART U, as a five-spot in the home half of the fourth ended up being just enough to finish off the three-game sweep of the Oaks, with ART U closing out a 5-4 win on Sunday. 

"[I'm] really happy with the effort the guys are putting forth," said ART U Head Coach Dan McDermott. "While it is concerning to give up early leads, at the same time it is a credit to the players (and our bullpen) to be able to claw back to get the wins." 

Action started quickly in the top of the first, with the Oaks (4-17) pushing four runs across thanks to each of the first four batters reaching without a hit (three walks, one hit batter) before the Urban Knights (7-7) had even taken their first swings at the plate. When ART U did get to the dish, they put runners in scoring position in each of the first and third innings, but even still the Knights were held out of the hit column and off the scoreboard. 

That was, until the home half of the fourth when junior third baseman Emil Jellinek laced a double into deep right center field that rolled to the wall and allowed sophomore designated hitter Ryne Lina to score from first, who had reached initially with a one-out walk. After a pop up, the two-out rally was on as Academy of Art drew a pair of walks that loaded the bases, which were then promptly cleared on one swing by freshman shortstop Gabe Henderson with a triple that also found the wall in right center and tied the game at 4-4.

With Henderson remaining 90 feet away from scoring the go-ahead run, the Oaks turned to the bullpen but it was of little use as ART U's RBI leader graduate student outfielder Landon Levine added one more to his total with a crisp single into left field to put the Knights ahead, 5-4. He has now driven in at least one run in 12 of the 14 games he's played in, and is knocking on the door of the ART U single season top-10 with a total of 18 on the year (10th place: 24). 

From that point on it was all about the pitching, with the Knights turning to junior right-hander Koh Maeda for an early relief appearance in the second inning. He turned in one of his best outings of the season, as he locked down the Menlo bats for seven scoreless innings while scattering three hits and punching out three. At one point he had retired 12 straight batters from the fourth through the eighth, and put away the side in order a total of four times. 

In line for the win, Maeda exited the game in the top of the ninth in favor of junior Fernando Dueñas who was seeking his third save of the season. While he did allow a pinch-hit double to Menlo's Blake Dompier, there was little trouble for Dueñas as he retired the next two easily to preserve Academy of Art's first sweep of the season. The victory marked the fourth straight, as ART U captured a win against Holy Names prior to this series on Tuesday. For Maeda, he picks up his second win while Dueñas extends his ART U saves lead to three.

"So many guys have contributed, but special mention needs to go to [redshirt junior catcher] Liam Rizzo and Fernando Dueñas," McDermott said. "Their leadership, hard work and consistency go a long way towards our process as a team."

It was a total of five runs on five hits for Academy of Art, with each one belonging to a different Urban Knight though only two were extra base hits with Henderson leading the way going 1-for-2 with a run scored, three driven in, and the triple. Meanwhile, Jellinek ended his day 1-for-4 with a run scored, RBI and a double. Additionally, the trio of Levine, freshman first baseman Michael Wiborn, and junior second baseman Larry Fonseca all collected a hit. 

"We are eager to start conference play on Friday," McDermott said. "After taking a day off tomorrow, we are planning three great practices with the goal of competing to the best of our ability in the upcoming series."

That series will be a four-game set against Holy Names, the first Pacific West Conference contests of the season for ART U, with all the action beginning on Friday, March 10 at 6 p.m.