GAME #22
AAU Urban Knights (2-19, 2-10) vs. CSU East Bay Pioneers (8-18-1)
Tuesday, Mar. 23, 2010 at 2:00 PM
Hayward, CA, Pioneer Field
GAME #23, 24 (Doubleheader)
AAU Urban Knights (2-19, 2-10) vs. Dixie State Red Storm (16-9, 10-6)
Friday, Mar. 26, 2010 at 1:00 PM MST
St. George, UT, Bruce Hurst Field
GAME #25, 26 (Doubleheader)
AAU Urban Knights (2-19, 2-10) vs. Dixie State Red Storm (16-9, 10-6)
Saturday, Mar. 27, 2010 at 12:00 PM MST
St. George, UT, Bruce Hurst Field
Game Notes (includes season/career-highs)
BASEBALL TO FACE EAST BAY, DIXIE STATE ON THE ROAD:
Facing the top team in the PacWest Conference, Hawaii Pacific, this past week, the Urban Knights showed they could hang with the league's best. Academy of Art is now set for a five-game roadtrip that will take AAU across the bay and to St. George, UT as well.
FIRST PITCH:
Cal State East Bay of the California Collegiate Athletic Association is the Knights' first opponent this week. The teams play a single game Tuesday, Mar. 23 at Pioneer Field with the first pitch set for 2:00 PM. Check
CSUEB's Twitter for score updates. AAU then meets Dixie State for four games at Bruce Hurst Field beginning with a 1:00 PM MST doubleheader on Friday, Mar. 26. On Saturday, Mar. 27, the squads play a second doubleheader starting at 12:00 PM MST. Live stats will be provided
here in addition to a live broadcast
here. Live score updates for the AAU-DSC series can be found on the Urban Knights' athletics site,
Twitter, and
CollegeFanz.
KNIGHT SPOTLIGHT:
Sophomore righty
Kallen Fletcher (0-0) made his first start as a pitcher in the final game against HPU and had a perfect game going through three innings. He now paces AAU with a 2.08 ERA, but junior right-hander
Darnell Quinney (0-5) has the most innings pitched (32.1) and strikeouts (22). Among regular starters, junior outfielder
Ryan Worley continues to lead with a .313 batting average, six doubles, and nine RBIs, but freshman
Andy Caniezo and sophomore
Kenny Rollins, Jr. both moved significantly closer to him after this past series.
Caniezo and
Rollins, Jr. each have 16 total bases and batting averages of .300 or higher.
SCOUTING THE PIONEERS:
Cal State East Bay defeated Menlo College 4-0 at the beginning of the season, but the Pioneers started their first year in the CCAA 1-5. Facing baseball powerhouses like Chico State and #3 UC San Diego, CSUEB now sits in the bottom three of the conference standings with a 5-15 record. Most recently, the Pioneers split four with SF State, but all contests were won by three runs or fewer. Infielder Nick McManus and outfielder Stephen Gatehouse lead East Bay with batting averages just over .370, combining for four home runs, 36 RBIs, and 34 runs scored. On the mound, the pair of righties Aaron Hannigan (3-1) and John Volk (0-7) are tied for the most innings pitched (38.2) and have together notched 51 strikeouts.
SCOUTING THE RED STORM:
When DSC and AAU met earlier this year, the Red Storm won four games, but quality starts by the Knights' pitching kept two of those victories extremely close. Outfielder Brett Adams leads with a .427 batting average, seven homers, and 32 RBIs. Righty Justin Prodan (3-3) has the best ERA on the team (3.52) as well as the most strikeouts (40).
KNIGHTS BATTLE HPU IN RECENT SERIES:
Although Academy of Art did not defeat Hawaii Pacific in its most recent five-game series, the Knights did come close several times. AAU led HPU for eight innings in game one before a four-run ninth inning rally resulted in an 8-7 win for the visitors. Academy of Art knocked two home runs out of the park in game two, but the Sea Warriors came back to win 9-6. The Knights then had a one-run lead late in game three only to fall 6-5 after HPU put three up in the sixth.
Worley was on base in four of five games with three RBIs, three runs scored, three stolen bases, and a home run.
Rollins, Jr. finished the series 3-for-12 with five runs scored, one home run, and three walks.
LOOKING AHEAD:
Next week, AAU returns to the Bay Area and Louis Guisto Field for a four-game series against Hawaii-Hilo on Mar. 30-31 to close out the month.
