Game #8
ART U Urban Knights (2-5) vs. HNU Hawks (5-4)
Friday, Feb. 18, 2022 at 1 p.m.
Oakland, Calif. – Laney College
Live Stats and Video

Game #9
ART U Urban Knights (2-5) vs. HNU Hawks (5-4)
Saturday, Feb. 19, 2022 at 6 p.m.
Oakland, Calif. – Laney College
Live Stats and Video

Games #10 & 11
ART U Urban Knights (2-5) vs. HNU Hawks (5-4)
Sunday, Feb. 20, 2022 at 1 & 4 p.m.
Oakland, Calif. – Laney College
Live Stats and Video

TUNED UP
Heading into the third series of the year but still searching for its first series win, Academy of Art baseball is set to a host four-game non-conference series against Bay Area rival Holy Names beginning on Friday, the first series this season that ART U has been the home team. 

FIRST PITCH
This four-game set will take place over three days, with Friday's series opener getting underway at 1 p.m. before a 6 p.m. showdown under the lights on Saturday, while Sunday will see the series close with a doubleheader that has first pitches set for 1 & 4 p.m. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights via the athletics app (Apple App Store, Google Play Store) and on Twitter & Instagram, as well as "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps. 

KNIGHT WATCH
Clashing with Sonoma State in a three-game series for the first time since 2017, the Urban Knights' offense was kept in check during game one and limited to just four runs in game two, but would salvage the final game of the series with a pair of three run innings that ultimately led to a 7-1 win. Providing much of the damage at the plate was the outfield duo of senior Ty Conrad and graduate student Travis Turney, as Conrad was a combined 4-for-10 (.400) with four runs scored, three RBI and two doubles. Meanwhile, Turney posted a hit in all three games and was a combined 5-for-11 (.455) with three runs scored, three RBI, a double and a triple. Capturing his second win in three starts was senior right-hander Cannon Secrist, who tossed 6.0 innings and allowed just one earned run (which came via a home run) on four hits allowed with eight strikeouts. The eight punch-outs are a season-best in the early part of the campaign, and is a mark he has achieved for the fourth time in his ART U career. Preserving the victory was sophomore right-hander Dallen Turner, as he worked a 1-2-3 scoreless seventh inning to make sure there was no comeback effort. 

Sitting with the best batting average just seven games into the season is senior first baseman Vincent Lontz, as he is the only Urban Knight above the .300 mark with a .364 average (8-for-22; tied for most hits on ART U) with three runs scored, three RBI and two doubles. Next up is redshirt senior shortstop Dominic Ruggiero, who had recorded a hit in each of the first four contests and now rests at .276 (8-for-29) with two runs scored, five RBI, a double and a triple. Three Urban Knights have posted six hits apiece in Conrad, Turney and junior second baseman Adam Inouye, with Inouye posting the best average among the trio at .261 (6-for-23).

Logging a 2-1 record on the hill thus far has been Secrist, posting a 5.27 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP in 17.0 innings pitched (most on ART U), allowing just eight earned runs on 14 hits with an ART U best 16 strikeouts. Meanwhile, Turner has posted the best ERA among the Urban Knights who have made more than one appearance, as the newcomer to ART U has yet to allow a run and has surrendered just one hit in his 4.1 innings pitched, recording just a 0.23 WHIP with three strikeouts thus far. Just behind Secrist in strikeouts is fellow right-handed starter in senior Collin Carriger, who sits at 13 on the season after going 5.0 scoreless innings of relief during the season opener with seven strikeouts, a mark he reached just twice last season.

KNIGHTS' QUEST
A three-run fifth inning highlighted the 2022 Academy of Art season opener against Stanislaus State, led by a pair of hits including an RBI triple and run scored from senior shortstop Dominic Ruggiero, but it was not enough to overcome an early Stan State lead as they captured a victory in the first game of the season, 5-3. Though ART U was blanked the following time out against CSUEB, the tides turned in a doubleheader as the Knights more than quadrupled their season run total with their 13-run output on the final day of the series, highlighted by a seven-run inning that ultimately led to the first win of the year for Academy of Art. 

OH HAWK NO
Just above .500 on the young season at 5-4 are the Hawks of Holy Names, though they have lost three of their past five contests after splitting a four-game set with Cal State East Bay before dropping a single game on the road at Cal State Monterey Bay the last time on the diamond. Four Hawks have a batting average of .300 or better, including two above .400 in Colton Combs (.452, 14-for-31) and Morgan McIntosh (.424, 14-for-33). Doing much of the damage is Combs, as he has 10 RBI on 21 total bases with six runs scored, while McIntosh has also scored six runs to pair with seven RBI. From the hill, Jake Creamer is 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 3.1 innings pitched, while starter Noah Barros is 1-0 with just a 0.75 ERA with one earned run allowed on four hits and a team-best 15 strikeouts. In the all-time series between ART U and HNU, it is the Urban Knights who hold the edge by a 30-22 margin after having won each of the past three matchups, most recently sweeping a doubleheader by identical 8-5 final scores (one in seven innings) back on April 24, 2021. 

KNIGHTS COLLECT HITS BUT ONLY SPLIT WITH SEAWOLVES
Though Academy of Art baseball wasn't able to hold an initial 3-0 lead against Sonoma State in game one of Saturday's doubleheader, with SSU storming back for an 8-4 victory and series win, ART U would not go home empty handed after using a pair of three-run innings to snatch a 7-1 win in the shortened second game.  

ON DECK
PacWest action begins for the Urban Knights the next time out, as ART U hosts a four-game series against Concordia starting with a doubleheader on Feb. 26 with first pitch set for 11 a.m.