Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Riverside, CA -- Outside of a pair of innings that they could have done without, the Academy of Art University baseball team performed well against powerhouse California Baptist, but fell in both ends of Friday's doubleheader. A three-run  eighth inning in the opener put the game in the Lancers favor, as they would take it 5-1, while an atypical five-run first against Josh Lopez in the second game sparked an 11-3 win by California Baptist in the nightcap.

Gercken (2-8) and Adam Hofacket (7-2) dueled it out in the opening game, as both pitchers gave up only one hit over the first three innings. The Urban Knights threatened in the fourth with a one-out double from Cavestany, but couldn't get him around. In the bottom of that inning, the Lancers were able to capitalize, getting the first two runners on base before Mark Sanchez roped a two-out double to right center to put his team up 1-0. 

Academy of Art would get one of those runs back in the very next inning, starting the rally when senior Kevin Decker had a bunt single and then stole second. Maclane Brady later hit  a single that scored Decker and it was tied at 1-1. It stayed that way until the seventh inning, when pinch-hitter Tyler DeTrinidad led off with a single. After being lifted for a pinch-runner, a sacrifice bunt and a single scored the run and chased Gercken from the game. Dylan Rodrigues came in and allowed a single, but got a pair of groundouts to keep it at a 2-1 lead.

The Knights had another chance in the eighth, as Jordan Thomas led off with a walk. He advanced to second on a ground out, and then Daniel Robertson singled to right, but Thomas was thrown out at home attempting to score the tying run. Kalani Brackenridge was then hit by a pitch to put two runners on, but Joseph Marchini struck out to end the inning. CBU would add three more runs in the eight, using two hits and an error to get two earned runs off of Rodrigues, but Paul Durbak finished off the inning for ART U with the score now 5-2. In the ninth, the Academy of Art got a pair of walks, but a double play in between put a damper on the rally as Caleb Dirks picked up the four-out save for the Lancers.

Game two got off to an auspicious start against freshman Josh Lopez, who gave up four hits and walked one in the first inning, capped off by a three-run homer by right-fielder Stephen Lohr to make it 5-0 CBU after the first frame. Academy of Art got on the board right after when Maclane Brady walked, going to second on a double by Jordan Thomas. Daniel Robertson, who worked his way back in to the lineup as of late, stayed hot with an 0-1 double to left, scoring both runs and making it 5-2. 

But the CBU scoring didn't stop, as they added three more in the second and another two in the fourth, finally chasing Lopez (2-5), who gave up 10 runs, nine of which were earned. The Knights were not without their opportunities against starter Josh Ferrell (2-2), however, getting runners on base in the third and fourth innings but leaving them on each time. They would score a run in the top of the fifth when Joseph Marchini singled, went to second on a wild pitch, and came around on a single through the right side by Chucky Cavestany, but later on that inning Cavestany was thrown out at home trying to score, and it was 10-3. 

The score stayed that way until the sixth, when Drew Keeler gave up a run on a single from pinch-hitter Tyler Johnson to make it 11-3, and although the Knights got a runner on in the top of the seventh, Ryan Ramirez hit a ground ball to the first-baseman, who flipped it to Dylan Stowell covering at first to end the game. 

Cavestany picked up a pair of hits on the day and extended his hitting streak to five games and raised his average to .325, highest on the team. Brady got his streak to six games, picking up four hits on the day and posting his third multi-hit game over that span, raising his average almost 100 points since the streak began. 

The Lancers and Urban Knights will finish up the series with a single nine-inning game on Saturday.More story to come...