GAME #37
AAU Urban Knights (4-32, 2-22) vs. Patten University Lions (7-27)
Friday, Apr. 16, 2010 at 10:30 AM
San Pablo, CA, Contra Costa College

GAME #38, 39 (Doubleheader)
AAU Urban Knights (4-32, 2-22) vs. Bethany University Bruins (9-23)
Saturday, Apr. 17, 2010 at 12:00 PM
San Jose, CA, PAL Stadium

GAME #40
AAU Urban Knights (4-32, 2-22) vs. Patten University Lions (7-27)
Sunday, Apr. 18, 2010 at 7:00 PM
San Leandro, CA, San Leandro Ballpark

Game Notes (includes season/career-highs)

FOUR NON-CONFERENCE GAMES ON TAP FOR AAU:
After wrapping up its final PacWest homestand of 2010, Academy of Art University baseball gets set for a four-game week against two non-conference opponents. The Urban Knights match up with Patten University on Friday, play a road doubleheader versus Bethany University on Saturday, and face Patten again on Sunday.

FIRST PITCH:
The first of two games (both single, nine-inning contests) between AAU and Patten takes place Friday, Apr. 16 at 10:30 AM on the campus of Contra Costa College in San Pablo, CA. Please visit http://tinyurl.com/y5tt5bv for campus map (baseball field located in lower middle section under Gym Annex). Academy of Art then travels to San Jose, CA and Pal Stadium (http://tinyurl.com/yyck265) for its doubleheader against Bethany on Saturday, Apr. 17 with the first pitch set for 12:00 PM. The final AAU-PU contest comes on Sunday, Apr. 18 at San Leandro Ball Park in San Leandro, CA (http://tinyurl.com/y576b98) and begins at 7:00 PM. Live score updates for the contests can be found on the Urban Knights' athletics site, Twitter, and CollegeFanz.

KNIGHT SPOTLIGHT:
Junior right-hander Darnell Quinney (0-9) pitched his way into the record books this past Saturday, Apr. 10 versus Grand Canyon. In his eighth start of the season, Quinney struck out a program-best eight batters over 6.0 innings of work. Now with a total of 52.1 innings on the mound for AAU, the junior has amassed a team-best 39 strikeouts along with two of the Knights' three saves this year. Junior infielder/outfielder Ryan Worley had a solid series against Grand Canyon in which he finished off both a career-best six-game hitting streak and an incredible seven-game stolen base streak. Worley is currently the only Urban Knight with a batting average above .300 (his stands at .330) and leads Academy of Art with 38 hits, 10 doubles, and 16 RBIs. Worley and sophomore outfielder Johnathan Robbins currently share the honor of most stolen bases on the team with 17 apiece.

SCOUTING THE LIONS:
Based out of Oakland, CA, Bethany University is an NAIA institution that currently competes in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. The Lions had some tough losses to begin the season and started out 2-16 overall. After sweeping Corban College, a conference opponent, over a three-game series in mid-March, Patten then staved off a sweep by Oregon Institute of Tech with a 9-5 win over the Owls on Mar. 21. One week later, the Lions broke out offensively on Mar. 27 with an 18-0 triumph over Bethany. As of Mar. 27, outfielder Jermaine Collins and infielder Zach Plancich pace the team with five home runs apiece and the pair has combined for 32 RBIs and 34 runs scored. As of Mar. 27, the leaders of the starting rotation have been lefties Michael Nunez (2-4) and Phillip Gonzales (1-5). Nunez has the best ERA among starting pitchers (4.46) while Gonzales has racked up the most innings pitched (41.1) the most strikeouts (31).

SCOUTING THE BRUINS:
Like Patten, Bethany University is also an NAIA school and a member of the Cascade Collegiate Conference. In 10 away contests to start the year, the Bruins competed against some of the top teams the NAIA has to offer. Facing opponents such as Biola, Vanguard, and Fresno Pacific in that span, Bethany was unable to win its first game until the Bruins returned home and defeated Simpson 8-7 on Mar. 6. Since the start of CCC play, Bethany has had its ups and downs en route to the team's 9-13 conference record. Outfielder Dillon Tindall combines with infielder Mark LaMothe to lead the team offensively. Between the two of them, Tindall and LaMothe have hit three home runs, driven in five, and scored nine runs. On the mound, Josh Dreier (0-3) sports a team-best 5.11 ERA, but Michael Monelo (0-3) has the most innings pitched (23.1). Dreier, Monelo, and Adrian DeMarr (0-0) all share the lead in strikeouts (17).

QUINNEY SETS STRIKEOUT RECORD IN FINAL PACWEST HOME GAME:
Although Grand Canyon topped the Urban Knights in both sides of Saturday's PacWest doubleheader, AAU's starting pitching was very impressive. In game one, sophomore righty Alex Rosenthal (1-7) threw a career-high 6.0 innings in his start and kept Academy of Art in the ballgame. After being down 4-1, the Knights came back to tie the game 4-4 with a three-run fourth that included a clutch two-run double by sophomore left fielder Kallen Fletcher. Rosenthal reached 130 pitches on a strikeout to end the sixth and exited with AAU still close, but GCU eventually took the 9-4 win. The second game featured Quinney's best outing of the season in which he sat down at least one batter per inning on his way to a program-best eight strikeouts. Quinney helped his own cause with an RBI double in the third to give Academy of Art an early 1-0 advantage, but late-inning rallies by the Antelopes led them to a 7-1 victory.

LOOKING AHEAD:
For its final nine games of the season, Academy of Art will be traveling to the Hawaiian islands for rematches with PacWest opponents Hawaii Pacific and Hawaii-Hilo. The Knights are in action against Hawaii Pacific for five contests from Apr. 30-May 2 followed by a four-game series with Hawaii-Hilo from May 4-5 to close out 2010.