Box Score

Oakland, CA -- An early lead by the Academy of Art University baseball team held for the first couple innings, but #7 Chico State used a couple big hits to power by the Urban Knights in the middle of the game. The Knights outhit the Wildcats eight to six, but eight walks and five hit batsmen offset that, and Chico State was able to convert those free batters into runs.

"Well simply put, we put too many guys on base," said head coach Brian Guinn. "That's something we have to get better at, that's something that we know we're better at, and we'll keep on working to get to where we need to be."

The Knights took an early lead on the Wildcats, who were picked last week to be the top seed in the West Region. After Ryan Donahoe set Chico down quickly in the first, the Knights were able to get to Chico State starter Ryan O'Shea right away. Shortstop Lyle "Kalani" Brackenridge hit a grounder to short that took a tough hop, allowing him to beat it out for an infield single. Kevin Decker singled up the middle, and then Ryan Ramirez singled him in with a base-hit to right field. After an error by Cody Slader at short, Stefen Henderson hit a long fly ball down the left-field line that was deep enough to score Decker from third, and ART U had a 2-0 lead.

Donahoe (0-2) ran into trouble in the second, but was able to get out of it. After a leadoff groundout, Donahoe walked one and hit the next. Then with catcher Ben Manlove at the plate, Donahoe came through and induced an inning-ending double play, going from Brackenridge to Cody Edmunds at second to Ramirez at first to eliminate the threat.

Chico was not about to let the Knights get away with another rally killer, however, and after Donahoe started the third like he did the second, with a walk and a hit-batsmen, leadoff man Eric Angerer hit a three-run home run that got up in the jet stream that was blowing out to left field, giving the Wildcats their first lead of the game.

Academy of Art made a change in the fourth after Donahoe hit his third batter of the game, putting in lefty Yoshi Uemura, who pitched five innings of relief after Donahoe in the season opener against Cal State Dominguez Hills. Uemura then ran into some trouble, as Manlove doubled to set up a bases-clearing triple by Cody Slader to make it 6-2. Slader would later score on a sacrifice fly, and Chico had a five-run lead.

Meanwhile, the Knights were unable to get anything else off of O'Shea (1-0), and after a two-run homer by Manlove in the fifth inning, they were stymied by the Wildcats bullpen. The Knights got base runners in the fifth, sixth, and seventh, but were unable to push any more runs across against Luke Barker or Chris Rodriguez. Chico scored one more in the eighth against Uemura before Kai Fink pitched a scoreless ninth for the Urban Knights.

"We definitely hit the ball today against some good pitchers," said Guinn. "Again, that's one thing that's different about this team. We're going to hit the ball, and we're going to get on base. We've just got to do a better job on the mound and we'll get back to winning games."

The Knights will play a doubleheader tomorrow against the Wildcats, with Aaron Garabedian taking the hill in the first game. First pitch for the opener will be at 4:30, while the second game will be seven innings and is projected to start around 7:15 PM.