Box Score

Turlock, CA -- The Academy of Art University finally broke through against the Cal State Stanislaus pitching staff after being pushed back on multiple occasions on Friday, but every time they did, the Warriors rallied right back in a back and forth battle that saw the Urban Knights drop an 8-7 heartbreaker in extra innings. The Knights had seven hits and capitalized on five errors by Stanislaus, but the late rally upended them in the bottom of the tenth. The second game of the doubleheader and final game of the series was cancelled after two innings due to rain.

Academy of Art jumped out to a lead in the second inning off of starter Nick Voumard, as Ryan Ramirez led off the inning reaching on a throwing error, the first of the five on the day. Maclane Brady was hit by a pitch, and Jordan Thomas reached on a fielder's choice that eliminated Ramirez at third. The two runners moved up on a passed ball, and Cody Edmunds walked to load the bases before Kevin Decker singled in a pair to put the Knights up 2-0.

Stanislaus would get one run back in their half of the second against Yoshi Uemura, as Brent Hall walked and scored on a double from Cameron Irinaga, making it a 2-1 game. The next inning they would rally again, this time to take the lead. Colton Beatty had an RBI single and Clint Brill hit a sacrifice fly to put the Warriors up 3-2.

But the Knights stormed back in the very next inning. Lyle "Kalani" Brackenridge singled up the middle to score Brady, and Jordan Thomas scored on a throwing error when Brackenridge stole second. The senior from Hawaii proceeded to steal his way around the bags, swiping third and then home for the third run of the inning to give ART U a 5-3 lead. Aaron Garabedian came in to relieve Uemura, and pitched well until the sixth, when Stanislaus use a single, a double, a wild pitch, and another single to score two more runs to tie the game at 5-5.

That began the back and forth that continued for the final innings. The Knights scored in the seventh on a double from Daniel Skinner that scored Joseph Marchini, who led off the inning with a walk, to make it 6-5. Stanislaus answered with a run in the bottom of the seventh, as Dayton Mellor singled, stole second, and scored on a single to tie it up again.

In the eighth, Brackenridge got it started with a one-out single to third base, stealing second, going to third on a wild pitch, and scoring on an error to make it 7-6. But again answering, Irinaga led off the bottom of the inning with a single. Nate Gercken came in to pitch and Stevie Robinson pinch-ran for the Warriors, stealing second and then third before scoring on a groundout to end the inning deadlocked once again at 7-7.

Both teams worked their way through the ninth, getting around base runners, and the Knights couldn't score in either the ninth or the tenth innings, while Dylan Rodrigues (0-2) came in as the game went to extras. In the bottom of the tenth, it was Robinson again proving that speed can be deadly late in a game. He walked on seven pitches to lead off the inning, going to second on a sacrifice bunt. After the Knights intentionally walked Charlie Gaff, Skippy Ferreria singled up the middle to score Robinson from second and give Stanislaus a walk off win.

Although they had seven hits, six walks, and forced five errors, the Knights left eight men on base in the loss. Brackenridge had a pair of hits, two runs, and an RBI to raise his average to .316 on the year. Brady and Thomas each scored twice, while Skinner drove in his team-leading 16th run of the year. Irinaga had three hits and two RBIs for Stanislaus, while three other Warriors had multi-hit games.

ART U will have some recovery time after playing 10 games in eight days, not playing again until a series against Holy Names University on April 11th and 12th. Since they share Laney College as their home field, the Hawks will be the home team on April 11th and the Urban Knights will be home on the 12th.