Box Score #1
Box Score #2

Phoenix, AZ --- Urban Knights baseball (2-14, 2-6 PacWest) notched its second victory of 2010 with an 8-6 win over Grand Canyon (16-13, 9-7 PacWest) in the latter of two games on Saturday afternoon. Freshman right-handed starter Drew Sullivan-Hames (1-4) took home the win along with seven strikeouts, the most in program history, and junior righty Darnell Quinney nailed down his first save. The Antelopes prevailed in the first contest 8-0, but AAU finishes with a split in the four-game series against GCU at Brazell Stadium.

“It's nice to get a split when you're on the road,” Head Coach Brian Guinn said. “We did what we tried to do. The kids are feeling great and they're really starting to believe in themselves and their ability.”

Grand Canyon struck first in game one with a run in the bottom of the first inning. From there, the teams exchanged a scoreless inning before the 'Lopes added two more in the third to give them a 3-1 lead. Academy of Art got a two-out single from Quinney in the fourth, but he was later thrown out attempting to steal second.

The game was close until the fifth inning when a pair of fielding errors by AAU began a five-run rally for GCU. Four of the runs were charged to starting left-handed pitcher Zach Mexicano, but none were earned. Mexicano took the loss and fell to 0-2 despite pitching well in the contest. He provided 4.1 innings on the mound, allowing seven runs (only two earned) on eight hits with three strikeouts.

Game two was a very different kind of contest compared to the first. The Knights' offense awoke in the first inning when a two-out rally started with Quinney's single up the middle. Freshman first baseman Andy Caniezo scored his teammate with an RBI double and Caniezo soon came home on a RBI single by sophomore second baseman Kenny Rollins, Jr.

While Grand Canyon got one run back in the bottom of the first, Sullivan-Hames was finding his groove with five strikeouts in the first six outs of the game. He was also given a larger lead when Academy of Art tacked on three more runs in the top of the second. With runners on first and second, sophomore centerfielder Johnathan Robbins knocked one home on an RBI single and junior left fielder Ryan Worley added a sacrifice fly for another RBI. Quinney plated the final run of the inning on his RBI double to right field.

Up 5-1 in the fourth, three consecutive singles gave the Urban Knights another run (Worley had the RBI). However, the difference in the game turned out to be the back-to-back doubles by AAU in the fifth which scored two runs. Sophomore right fielder Alex Rosenthal put his double down into left field while the two-run double by freshman catcher Chris Holmes went fair down the right field line. Academy of Art would need those runs because GCU unleashed a five-run rally in the bottom of the fifth, making the score 8-6.

The Knights managed to hold on for the victory because of their stellar pitching performances in the contest. Sullivan-Hames backed up his previous strong outing against Dixie State on Mar. 6 with 6.1 innings of amazing work. Though he allowed six runs, only two were earned along with 10 hits allowed. It was not the most innings he had thrown in an Academy of Art uniform, but he becomes the first AAU pitcher ever to have seven strikeouts, topping his previous mark by three.

“Drew is a very tough competitor,” Coach Guinn said. “He had is command today. His fast ball was hitting his spots and he had kids playing defense behind him.”

Quinney came in to get the final two outs of the ballgame, earned the save of his career, and added one strikeout in the process.

“Darnell wanted the ball to close it out,” Coach Guinn said. “I have a lot of confidence in him and what he can do as a closer. He came in and had that look in his eyes and he got the job done.”

The Urban Knights tied their previous season-high with 14 hits as a team in game two with nine players contributing to that figure. Holmes and Worley each had career-highs with two runs batted in while Caniezo, who batted cleanup, added a 2-for-4 day with an RBI of his own and two runs scored. At the top of the lineup, Robbins spearheaded the scoring with a 2-for-4 game two, one run scored, one RBI, and his sixth stolen base of the season.

Offensively, Quinney finished the day 3-for-7 with one run and one RBI. Junior designated hitter Chris Vargas and freshman shortstop Stefen Henderson, the eighth and ninth place batters, combined to go 3-for-6 with two runs scored. Finally, Rosenthal and Rollins, Jr. did their part in the middle of the lineup, combining for a 3-for-7 performance with one run and one RBI.

“It was a collective effort today,” Coach Guinn said. “They were hitting the ball on the barrel and the balls were falling. The approach has changed in hitting. The kids are starting to buy into what Coach Mike Felder and I have been teaching and they are starting to see the benefits. They are taking right approach and doing the correct things.”

The outfield combination of Tyler Bair and Trevor Santor were the heroes for Grand Canyon on Saturday. Together they went 10-for-13 with five RBIs and five runs scored. Jeff Urlaub (2-1) was the winning pitcher in the first game, tossing 7.0 innings with one hit allowed and six strikeouts. The losing pitcher in game two was Justin McKee (0-4) who gave up eight runs (five earned) on 12 hits with four strikeouts over 4.1 innings.

The Urban Knights continue PacWest play back at Louis Guisto Baseball Field with a five-game series versus the Hawaii Pacific Sea Warriors starting on Thursday, Mar. 18. The series was originally scheduled to span Mar. 19-21, but it has been changed to have a nine-inning single game on Mar. 18 at 11:00 AM followed by doubleheaders on Mar. 19 and Mar. 20 both at 12:00 PM.