Game #43 & 44
ART U Urban Knights (14-28, 7-21 PacWest) at No. 20 PLNU Sea Lions (30-12, 18-8 PacWest)
Friday, April 28, 2023 at noon & 3 p.m.
San Diego – Carroll B. Land Stadium
Live Stats | Live Video

Game #45 & 46
ART U Urban Knights (14-28, 7-21 PacWest) at No. 20 PLNU Sea Lions (30-12, 18-8 PacWest)
Friday, April 29, 2023 at noon & 3 p.m.
San Diego – Carroll B. Land Stadium
Live Stats | Live Video

Game #47
ART U Urban Knights (14-28, 7-21 PacWest) at HNU Hawks (23-21, 13-15 PacWest)
Tuesday, May 2, 2023 at 3 p.m.
Alameda, Calif. – College of Alameda
Live Stats and Video

FINISH STRONG
The finish line to the 2023 campaign lies just after a pair of opponents for Academy of Art baseball, as the Urban Knights put an end to the conference portion of the season with a four-game series against nationally-ranked No. 20 Point Loma on Friday and Saturday before ending the year with a solo non-conference battle against Bay Area rival Holy Names on Tuesday. 

FIRST PITCH
This four-game set with the Sea Lions will be played in a pair of doubleheaders with identical first pitch times on Friday and Saturday of noon and 3 p.m., and the season finale against the Hawks commences at 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
All four games of a PacWest set against Azusa Pacific were close last week, including two games where the Cougars walked off as winners. The first of those two came in the series opener, a game where graduate student righty Cannon Secrist became the program's career strikeouts leader and was searching for a complete game win heading into the bottom of the ninth, but the Cougars rallied for a pair of runs and a 4-3 win. Games two and three were played as a doubleheader, and after scoring a 9-3 win (seven innings) in first first half, APU spoiled a seven-run ART U inning and scored eight unanswered runs to steal a 9-8 win (eight innings). To finish off the sweep, Azusa Pacific staked an early lead and fought off an ART U comeback in the middle stages of the contest for a 10-7 victory. 

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), dropping the season opener against Stanislaus State before dropping both games against Sonoma State after rain shortened the series from three games down to two. The first wins of the season followed as they secured exciting solo victories over Fresno Pacific and Central Washington (both non-conference) thanks to home runs in consecutive games from redshirt junior catcher Liam Rizzo, though they were then limited to taking just the middle contest of three against Cal State East Bay. Continuing the stretch was Holy Names and Simpson, as the Hawks took the first matchup of the season with continued offense while Simpson won the only currently completed game of what was supposed to be another three-game series. 

Following that period, Academy of Art was victorious in each of their past four games starting with another solo contest against Holy Names, that this time the Knights got the better of by a 5-2 final to level the season series prior to the duo opening conference play against each other. Rolling into the weekend, rain forced some flexibility into what was originally scheduled as a four-game series, but even still there were three games completed with ART U taking all three in comeback fashion. A four-run sixth inning helped a 5-3 win in the opener, ART U battled through a Menlo six-run first in the middle game to win 12-9, and then closed the series with a four-run inning late combined with a brilliant relief appearance from junior right-hander Koh Maeda leading to a 5-4 victory. 

Just a day later, Maeda was tabbed as the PacWest Pitcher of the Week on March 6, as he held the Menlo bats to just three scattered hits over seven scoreless innings while picking up his second victory of the year in the series finale. This is the first weekly award for Maeda both this season and in his career, though it is the second weekly award by an Urban Knight this season as he joins Niki who was named the PacWest Player of the Week on Feb. 20. It is the third consecutive year that ART U has had multiple PacWest weekly awards and at least one PacWest Pitcher of the Week. 

While Holy Names won each of the first two games in the first PacWest series of the season for both teams, Academy of Art was able to rally and win the final two games, which included a walk-off win in game three while a solid all-around performance propelled ART U to the series split with the Hawks. Pitching was the theme of the doubleheader during games two and three, as while a pair of runs scored a win for HNU in game two, ART U then had the exciting walk-off win in game three after forcing the pressure on the Hawks' defense which led to the game-winning run scoring on an error. Riding the momentum of the walk-off, the Knights kept it going in the series finale they staked an early lead that they never relinquished, earning a split in their first PacWest series of the year thanks to a 5-3 victory on a wet and rainy day at Laney College. Having already played six games against each other, splitting them 3-3 with each winning one of the solo non-conference contests over the past couple weeks, that will leave the winner of the regular season's final game between the two teams to decide the season series winner. 

The Urban Knights split the first two games of their PacWest series-opening doubleheader with Fresno Pacific, dropping game one 11-1before coming back and exploding for nine runs on eight hits with yet another homer on the day while junior right-handed starter Devan Quesada was nearly perfect through six innings, resulting in a 9-3 victory during the shortened second game. Unfortunately, FPU would take the series when they swept the second doubleheader the following day, as while ART U scored first in both parts of the twin bill, it was the Sunbirds that scored more to walk away with wins by finals of 8-4 and 4-1. 

Academy of Art blasted three homers over the course of its four-game set with Biola, but despite holding a lead in three of the four contests (including scoring first in games two and four), it was the Eagles that came away with a PacWest series sweep. In the series-opening doubleheader, multiple extra-base hits (including the first home run in an ART U jersey by Niki) and a manufactured run were key in ART U's comeback to tie game one at 3-3, but a pair of three-run innings in the sixth and eighth were the difference for the Eagles. To end the weekend Academy of Art crushed both of their homers in the series finale, but in both games three and four BU was able to put together multiple run-scoring innings late leading to the twin bill victory. 

After UH Hilo took both of the first two games from a four-game PacWest series, Academy of Art came back in a big way game during game three as the Urban Knights walked off winners by a 4-3 final when senior outfielder Hayato Niki produced a two-out, two-RBI base knock that saw great heads-up baserunning by sophomore second baseman Larrry Fonseca score from second on the play. Following that in the series finale was a strong pitching performance by the ART U duo of sophomore left-hander Brian Kraft and Secrist, which combined with four extra base hits led to a 4-2 victory for a doubleheader sweep to split the seies. 

Prior to each fo the games with Hilo, Kraft became the Urban Knights' first pitcher to ever earn a national weekly honor for his performance against the Golden Eagles on April 6, as he was named the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week after held the Concordia lineup without a hit for seven innings and setting a new career-high with 10 strikeouts, which included punching out four of the final five batters to secure his first victory of the season. That performance helped him join Ben Kaser as the only two Urban Knights to throw a no-hitter in ART U history, with Kaser doing so in another seven inning game against Simpson on Feb. 17, 2018 in a 1-0 shutout win, though Kraft is the first to do so against an NCAA Division II opponent and had double the strikeouts (10 to five). The lone earned run that scored was a result of four walks, two wild pitches and a sacrifice fly. 

Over the prior two days Kraft collected other weekly awards, as April 3 he was named the PacWest Pitcher of the Week before earning the NCBWA West Region Pitcher of the Week on April 4. It is the third consecutive year that ART U has earned three total PacWest weekly awards with two being PacWest Pitcher of the Week honors, and it is the fifth consecutive year earning at least one PacWest weekly honor (excluding shortened 2020 season; multiple honors in all but 2019). Additionally, he is the first Urban Knight to earn the NCBWA West Region Pitcher of the Week award since Collin Carriger earned the award on March 1, 2022, and ART U has had at least one such award in each of the last three years (two in 2021; Carriger on May 3 and Matthew Sanchez on Mar. 10). 

Despite the Urban Knights coming one run shy of their season-high in the series opener against Hawaii Pacific, the final home season of the year for Academy of Art, big innings for Hawaii Pacific swung the game in the Sharks' favor 18-12 before rolling into a 9-4 win during the shortned second game. Taking the field the following day for the series-closing doubleheader on Senior Day, the Urban Knights started the day by honoring the careers of outfielders Hayato Niki and Travis Turney, as well as right-handed pitcher Cannon Secrist, with a pregame ceremony prior. When it came to the action, ART U pounded out another 19 hits after 21 just a day earlier, but the Sharks still walked away victorious by finals of 5-3 and 10-5 (seven innings). 

KNIGHT WATCH
Tops on the Knights in hits and average this season is senior outfielder Hayato Niki, batting .355 (54-for-152; tied for seventh-most hits in an ART U season) with 33 runs scored, 20 runs driven in, 13 doubles, one triple and one homer. He is the third Urban Knight this season to score and drive in 20 or more runs, along with graduate student outfielder Travis Turney who checks in second on ART U by hitting .318 (42-for-132) with 24 runs scored and 26 driven in, while also recording a triple and team-highs in doubles (14; third-most in an ART U season) and stolen bases (18; tied for sixth-most in an ART U season). Recently Niki recently saw an 11-game hitting streak end while Turney also closed his 17-game reached base safely streak (team best) during the same game. 

The other in the 20/20 category is graduate student outfielder Landon Levine, who sits closely behind Turney in average at .315 (47-for-149) along with 32 runs scored, 33 RBI, seven doubles, one triple and five homers. His homers are currently the team lead, while the RBI are the most on ART U and now second-most in an Academy of Art season. After a series where he was a combined 9-for-19 (.474) with six runs scored and five RBI, Levine became just the second Urban Knight to in history to drive and and score 30 or more runs, joining Ty Conrad (35 runs scored, 33 RBI) who did so in the 2021 campaign. Additionally he is just the fourth Knight to total 30 RBI in one year, and is currently tied for second along with Conrad and is two behind ART U single-season record holder Zak May (35, 2019). Even more, he is currently riding a 13-game hitting streak, the longest such streak on ART U this season (previous: 11, Niki). 

Second on the squad in RBI is redshirt junior catcher Liam Rizzo, as 27 runs batted in are tied for seventh-most in a single ART U season. Another key producer has been freshman shortstop Gabe Henderson, as his .284 average (44-for-154) is fourth on the team while his 35 runs scored (tied for third-most in an ART U season) and trio of triples are team highs. Rizzo's average currently resides at .255, scoring 18 times with six doubles and two homers. 

From the hill, junior righty Devan Quesada leads the team in wins after he collected his fourth of the year (4-3) against UH Hilo on April 6 thanks to a complete game quality start where he allowed just three runs on eight hits in seven innings. His 4.98 ERA (33 earned runs in 59.2 innings) is second on the squad, though he has posted the lowest WHIP of those who qualify at 1.21. Just behind him with a 3-3 mark is fellow junior right-hander Koh Maeda, logging the third-best ERA at 5.54 (31 earned runs in 50.1 innings) which is paired with a 1.65 WHIP. Leading the way in ERA is graduate student righty Cannon Secrist at 3.83 (21 earned runs in 49.1 innings), recording a 2-5 record to go with one save and a 1.44 WHIP. It's a tight race for the strikeout lead, but sophomore lefty Brian Kraft is out in front with 49 to the 45 of Secrist, with Quesada in third with 42. A main option out of the out the bullpen this season has been junior right-hander Fernando Dueñas, who holds a 5.54 ERA (23 earned runs in 37.1 innings pitched) to go with his 2-5 record and team-high five saves (second-most in a single ART U season). 

SWINGIN' SEA LIONS
Currently standing as the top team in the PacWest are the Sea Lions of Point Loma, ranked the No. 20 team in the nation thanks to their record of 30-12 (18-8 PacWest) which has included victories in nine of their last 10 contests. Most recently among those victories includes taking three of four against ART U's season finale opponent in Holy Names, as well as downing Fresno Pacific in both parts of a twin bill. PLNU has the offense to back up their national ranking, as they average 7.3 runs per game while batting .311 (408-for-1314) as a unit. Of their 408 hits, a total of 136 have gone for extra bases (33.3 percent) with an eye-popping 71 home runs on the year (PacWest lead). Individually there are a total of four Sea Lions above the .300 line but only one sits above .400, as Scott Anderson resides at .410 with an OPS of 1.163 and 43 runs scored, 32 driven in, team highs in doubles (14) and triples (two), and nine homers. However, Jakob Christian holds the lead in the power categories, batting .388 to go with a 1.435 OPS and 51 runs scored, 55 RBI and 24 home runs, all of which are or share a piece of the PacWest lead. Meanwhile on the mound, Point Loma has compiled a 4.15 ERA and 1.35 WHIP as a squad, but only three Sea Lions currently qualify among the team leaders. Each of the trio holds a record above .500 and a sub-4.80 ERA, but the leader in each category is Ray Cebulski thanks to his 5-2 record which he pairs with a 4.26 ERA and 1.06 WHIP. Additionally, Cole Hillier has logged a team-best six saves to go with a 4-1 record and 2.10 ERA. Academy of Art and Point Loma have split their past six matchups, but PLNU got the better of ART U last time out and holds an edge in the all-time series, 23-8. 

HAMMERING THE HAWKS
Hanging on to an overall record just above .500 are the Holy Names Hawks, who are just 1-4 in their last five games, however, that lone win came against the nationally-ranked Sea Lions and helped them set program history for wins in a single season (23). This final season for the Hawks has been one of their best ever, as the squad is batting .280 to just the .255 of their opponents while averaging 5.3 runs per game. Just as impressively the Hawks have driven 99 of their 379 hits for extra bases (26.1 percent), which also includes a total of 22 homers. Four Hawks are above the .300 mark at the dish but its the pair of Jesus Hernandez and Esai Santos leading the way, with Hernandez tops on the team in average (.385), hits (60), and RBI (32) while Santos trails closely behind in average (.382) and holds team leads in RBI (32), runs scored (51, PacWest lead), triples (four) and homers (nine). Though the HNU team ERA is not as impressive (5.30), Eddie Curley has had a standout season on the bump thanks to his 7-2 record which is paired with a 3.23 ERA, 1.19 WHIP and team-high 58 strikeouts. Academy of Art and Holy Names have already met six times this campaign, splitting those contests evenly at 3-3 though ART U came out the victors in each of the two most recent matchups. With the final meeting between the two teams, Academy of Art has already clinched the winning side in the all-time series, sitting at a current mark of 37-29. 

KNIGHTS BATS HEAT UP LATE, COUGARS HOLD ON FOR 10-7 WIN
Over the course of two innings, Academy of Art baseball scored all seven of its runs while attempting to build a comeback effort against Azusa Pacific, but APU was able to defend their home field on their Senior Day and completed a Pacific West Conference series sweep with a 10-7 victory on Saturday.  

ON THIS DAY
On April 27, 2018, Academy of Art rode the arm of junior right-hander Ben Kaser as he tossed his first career nine-inning complete game with five punchouts, tying the program record for wins with his sixth of the season as the Urban Knights earned a 2-1 victory over Hawaii Pacific ... On April 28, 2013, the Urban Knights overcame dropping game one of a doubleheader to Holy Names by a 9-5 final by using a two-out rally in the bottom of the seventh to score the game's only run and walk off as 1-0 winners in the shortened second game for the program's first ever shutout ... Academy of Art celebrated Senior Day on April 30 in both 2021 and 2022, starting in 2021 when Collin Carriger tossed a gem of an outing with an ART U single-game record 14 strikeouts in seven shutout innings to help the Knights split a doubleheader against Concordia. Meanwhile, 2022 saw ART U battle against Fresno Pacific in an action-packed day where Academy of Art twice established a lead in the early going before ultimately cementing an 8-6 win.