OAKLAND, Calif. – The final two contests of a four-game Pacific West Conference set between Academy of Art baseball and No. 3 Point Loma were just as exciting as the first two with offense reigning supreme thanks to 45 combined hits between the two squads, with ART U rolled to an 8-5 victory in game one before PLNU enacted its revenge in game two by a 13-3 final in seven innings. 

"You know, with the exception of game four, we played really good baseball all weekend," said ART U Head Coach Dan McDermott. "Even in that game, most of the damage by PLNU was in the eight-run second inning. [Colin] Carriger, [Cannon] Secrist, and [Brian] Kraft all came through with quality starts, and our hitters did a pretty good job of keeping the pressure on through all four games. In particular, Ryan Gamboa and Vincent Lontz embraced the grind and produced quality at-bats all weekend. Liam Rizzo, Travis Turney and Ty Conrad came up with some clutch hits as well."

Bats remained hot for the Urban Knights (11-28, 5-19 PacWest) against the nationally-ranked Sea Lions (29-5, 11-5 PacWest), reaching double-digit hits in three of the four contests after another 12 hits in both games of Saturday's twinbill. They came in clutch situations to begin the day, including junior outfielder Charles Morgan further extending his ART U single-season home run record to eight with a solo blast in the seventh, powering the Knights to the win. However, game two would see ART U struggle to get hits with runners in scoring position as they were unable to keep up with the offense of Point Loma. 

The trio of graduate student catcher Ryan Gamboa, senior first baseman Vincent Lontz, and sophomore designated hitter Liam Rizzo would all tally four hits on the day, with each collecting a pair of base knocks in both games. Tops among them was Rizzo, as he ended his day 4-for-7 with a run scored and four runs batted in. 

GAME ONE – ART U 8, #3 PLNU 5
A sign of things to come, ART U was the first team on the scoreboard thanks to a two-out rally that started with a single from senior outfielder Ty Conrad, continued with a walk to Rizzo, and was finally capped off by a Lontz single into center field that scored Conrad. Though a Gamboa single loaded the bases, all runners were left stranded. 

Two walks set the stage in the second frame for graduate student outfielder Travis Turney, who delivered with an RBI single through the left side to bring home Morgan for the game's second run. The lead doubled again in the home half of the third thanks to three hits and fielder's choice, as Gamboa and freshman third baseman Jellinek would reach just prior to a bases clearing double into left center from Morgan to push the ART U lead to 4-0. 

Another two-out rally would produce in a run, however this time it was the Sea Lions that were making the late push with a pair of singles and a walk, scoring once to cut the lead back to 4-1. 

While neither team scored in the fifth, Academy of Art got back to work in the sixth starting with a single from Turney, who then stole a base and made his way over to third after a failed pickoff attempt. Two batters later, Rizzo would drive him in with a shot through the right side before Lontz later added an RBI on a sacrifice bunt. Insurance came again in the seventh on the big fly from Morgan, as he pulled the ball to left center to make the game 9-1. 

Fighting in every at-bat, the Sea Lions would load the bases with no outs in both the seventh and eighth innings, but the Knights were up to the challenge and were able to limit the damage. Freshman left-handed pitcher Brian Kraft, who had tossed a brilliant game through the early innings and took a no-hit bid into the fourth, was able to induce a pair of ground balls with the second resulting in an inning-ending double play. He would exit the game in the eighth, and though while sophomore right-hander Dallen Turner did not replace Kraft, he was later called upon to enter the tough situation and kept Point Loma to minimal runs. 

ART U responded quick in their half of the eighth, plating a run after a one-out double from Conrad preceded an RBI single from Rizzo, his second of the game. While Turner would allow a pair of runs to cross in the top of the ninth, he would ultimately record the final out thanks to a pair of flyouts to end the game. 

After lasting 7.0 full innings, Kraft earned the first win of his ART U career after he allowed just one earned run on seven hits with eight strikeouts, the third consecutive game he has punched out eight batters. Though Turner was not credited with a save, he logged the final 1.2 innings and allowed a pair of runs on two hits with two strikeouts. Nathan Garkow would be stuck with the loss, his first decision of the season in eight starts as his record moved to 0-1. 

Nearly every Urban Knight recorded a hit in the game, with five different players notching a multi-hit game. Among them were Rizzo, Lontz and Morgan, as Lontz and Rizzo were each 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI while Morgan was 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three RBI. Turney was also responsible for scoring once and driving one in, ending 1-for-4.

GAME TWO – #3 PLNU 13, ART U 3 (7)
Academy of Art scored the first run of the game for the third time out of four contests, as Turney and Conrad reached with singles just before executing the double steal to both move into scoring position. However, only Turney would score as the Knights were limited to just one sacrifice fly by Rizzo. 

That would lead to the offensive eruption in the second inning by the Sea Lions, as they used five hits, three hit batters and a walk to produce eight runs and snatch all of the game's momentum. Not finished, they put up another three tallies in the away half of the third in building a double-digit cushion. 

While ART U fought back with a run in the third when junior middle infielder Adam Inouye used a leadoff triple to get in scoring position for a Rizzo RBI single, and even added one more in the fifth on an RBI double from Gamboa, the Sea Lions slammed the door shut with a flawless performance from the bullpen by allowing just one hit. 

The usual suspects of Rizzo, Lontz and Gamboa led the way in game two with two hits each, with Rizzo out in front thanks to a run scored, a pair of RBI and a double. Meanwhile, Gamboa drove in one of his own thanks to his two doubles in the contest. Inouye ended 1-for-4 with his first triple of the year, and senior utility player Ryan Skillman went 1-for-2 in an appearance off the bench. 

A quick detour from PacWest play is up next for ART U, as the Urban Knights travel to Santa Barbara, Calif. for a three-game series against Westmont beginning on Apr. 15.