SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – While Academy of Art baseball managed to be the first team on the scoreboard in the series opener of a three-game set against Westmont, nine unanswered runs by the Warriors would flip the game's momentum and take a 12-7 win over ART U. 

"Today's game was a true slugfest and also the beginning of a great rivalry," said ART U Head Coach Dan McDermott. "Between the two teams, we had 32 hits and 19 runs. Our guys had 28 quality at-bats and we had a lot of hard outs."

It was a quick start for the Urban Knights (11-29) thanks to a pair of singles from middle infielders junior Adam Inouye and redshirt senior Dominic Ruggiero, as they set the table before moving into scoring position on a sacrifice bunt from senior outfielder Ty Conrad. That would allow graduate student outfielder Travis Turney to pick up the first run batted in of the day, which he promptly did with a double through the right side to score both runners. Causing havoc on the basepaths was Turney, as he would steal third before jogging home and scoring run number three on a throwing error from the Warriors' (37-6) catcher. 

The No. 6 ranked team in NAIA was quick to respond with a run in their half of the first thanks to a two-out rally that featured a pair of hits and a walk, as the Warriors would ultimately take the lead with a four-spot in the second frame after four consecutive hits led off the inning before finally being capped off by a sacrifice fly. Continuing to add onto their lead, the Warriors would strike twice more in the third before adding solo runs of insurance in each the fourth and sixth innings, pushing the lead to 9-3. 

A late-game rally would start to form in the seventh for ART U, as that's when Conrad blasted the first pitch he saw over the left field wall for a solo homer, his second of the season, putting him halfway to his total from last season. The run stretched into the eighth inning where the Knights manufactured a trio of runs on another four hits, the first of which were singles fom freshman third baseman Emil Jellinek, Inouye and Ruggiero. The one-bagger from Ruggiero would drive in Jellinek while moving Inouye to third, allowing him to score on a subsequent wild pitch. Not long after Ruggiero would also cross the plate, coming home on an RBI double through the right side from Conrad.

 However, Westmont would get each of the three runs back in the home half of the eighth, two of which came on one swing from Thomas Rudinsky as he launched a home run down the left field line that pushed the game to it's final score of 12-7. 

Coming off a complete game win last time out against No. 3 Point Loma, senior right-hander Collin Carriger was tagged with the loss to drop his record to 4-7 on the season, lasting 6.0 innings before turning the game over to fellow senior righty Ryan Skillman. Credited with the win was Alex Blaszyk, as he appeared in relief to toss 3.1 innings while allowing four runs on six hits. 

"Carriger is one of the best pitcher in the PacWest, and even though he didn't have his best stuff today, he got us through six innings and left us with a chance to win," McDermott said.

By game's end Academy of Art had tallied 15 hits as a squad, a new season-best, marking the 13th time the Knights have reached the double-digit hits mark. Tops at the dish was Inouye, as the leadoff hitter did his job by ending 4-for-6 with a pair of runs scored, while Conrad also had himself a day at the dish by going 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI, a run scored, a double and a homer. Collecting three hits was senior first baseman Vincent Lontz by ending the game 3-for-5, while Ruggiero also tallied a multi-hit game by going 2-for-4 with a pair of runs scored, an RBI and a walk. 

The Urban Knights will look to rebound as the series concludes with games two and three tomorrow in doubleheader format, with first pitch times set for 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.