Game #9
ART U Urban Knights (3-5) at HNU Hawks (6-3)
Tuesday, Feb. 21, 2023 at 5 p.m.
Alameda, Calif. – College of Alameda
Live Video

SOLO DOLO
Coming off a busy week where they went 3-2 across their five contests, Academy of Art baseball returns to the diamond for an early week non-conference contest on Tuesday against familiar Pacific West Conference foe Holy Names. 

FIRST PITCH
Tuesday's tussle with the Hawks is scheduled to get underway at 5 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.

KNIGHTS' QUEST
The second week of the 2023 campaign saw Academy of Art post a 3-2 mark in their five contests, opening up with exciting solo victories over Fresno Pacific and Central Washington (both non-conference) before taking one of three against Cal State East Bay over the weekend. Trailing 2-0 after the top of the first, a three-run blast from redshirt junior catcher Liam Rizzo in the bottom of the frame ignited a hot day for the bats as ART U totaled 10 runs on 11 hits (five for extra bases) in a 10-4 victory over the Sunbirds. It felt like déjà vu the following time out against the Wildcats as the second three-run big fly in as many days by Rizzo once again sparked the Academy of Art bats, spurring them to a trio of three-run innings (on a season-high 13 hits) in their final three turns at the dish to battle back for a 9-8 win over CWU.

Moving into just their second series of the season against the Pioneers, CSUEB took the series opener despite action being knotted at 2-2 after two innings, as Cal State East Bay totaled multiple runs in each of the first five innings of a 13-8 win. Meanwhile ART U leveled the series in the second half of the day by totaling 13 runs, scoring in each of the last five innings (including a four-spot in the third) of the shortened second game to defeat CSUEB 13-5 (seven innings), giving junior pitcher Koh Maeda win in an ART U uniform. The rubber match was an intense contest that had an equally dramatic finish, but despite ART U leading twice in the later innings including in the top of the extra 10th frame, the Pioneers rallied to score two in the bottom of the inning and walk off winners 7-6 (10 innings) for the series win. 

Earlier today it was announced that due to his production over the course of the week, senior outfielder Hayato Niki was picked as the Pacfiic West Conference Player of the Week for the first time in his career (first weekly award of ART U season). Notching multiple hits in four out of the week's five games, Niki tied his career high and the ART U program record for hits in a game when he went a perfect 4-for-4 with two runs scored in the win over Central Washington (first ART U four-hit game of the season). In the series opener against CSUEB Niki did a bit of everything, going 2-for-3 in his trips to the dish while scoring twice, driving one in and swiping a his only bag of the week. His bat continued to sizzle in game two where he was 3-for-4 with a season-high three runs scored and his first two doubles of the campaign, while the series finale saw Niki end 2-for-5 with a run scored and an RBI. 

It was an 0-3 start to the 2023 season for Academy of Art despite scoring a total of 16 runs (twice scoring six runs in a game), as the Urban Knights began the year with a four-spot in the home half of the first in the season opener against Stanislaus State, but the Warriors fought back and captured the lead in the top of the eighth before holding on for a 7-6 win. Rain made an unwelcome appearance during what was scheduled to be a three-game series against Sonoma State, halting game one of the set after the third inning with the Knights again enjoying a lead by a score of 5-1, forcing play to resume again on Sunday. 

In the continuation, a pair of home runs that included a three-run homer in the top of the fifth helped key a Seawolves comeback that saw them tie the game in the top of the ninth before earning the 7-6 victory in 10 innings. In game two of the doubleheader (scheduled for seven-innings), Sonoma State built a five-run lead but would not stay comfortable for long as ART U produced a bit of comeback magic of their own, with a pair of homers from graduate student outfielder Landon Levine and sophomore third baseman Emil Jellinek highlighting the way. However, the comeback would fall just short as the Seawolves shut the door for a 6-4 win. 

KNIGHT WATCH
Currently there are a pair of Urban Knights riding respective six-game hitting streaks in graduate student catcher Peter Torres and graduate student outfielder Landon Levine, with Torres picking up a hit in all four of the games he played in last week (6-for-13, .462; four runs scored, four RBI, one double) to lift his team-leading batting average to .417 (10-for-24). An on-base machine, Torres' OPS currently rests at 1.034 thanks to his on-base percentage of .576. Matching his hitting streak while reaching base safely in all eight ART U games is Levine, who in addition to posting hits in each of his previous six games has also driven in at least one run in every contests that he has appeared in, leading the Knights with 12 RBI while batting .367 (11-for-30).

Niki's team-high total of 12 hits helps him sit second in average at .387 (12-for-31), while Rizzo has been a top run producer as his 10 RBI trails only Levine on Academy of Art. In all there are five Urban Knights above the .300 mark on the season, as joining that group are graduate student outfielder Travis Turney (.353, 6-for-17; seven RBI, six runs scored, three doubles) and sophomore third baseman Emil Jellinek (.308, 8-for-26; seven runs scored, four RBI, three doubles, two homers). In addition to tying Rizzo for the team-lead in homers, Jellinek tops all Urban Knights with a 1.095 OPS (team-high .654 slugging percentage).

From the hill, the trio of junior righty Devan Quesada, junior righty Koh Maeda, and junior right-hander Fernando Dueñas all have picked up a win on the season, with Quesada the first to earn his as the winning pitcher of record in the victory against FPU. Quesada also holds the lowest earned run average on the Urban Knights, as he has allowed only eight earned runs (12 total runs) leading to a 4.08 ERA and 1.03 WHIP, and has fanned 15 hitters in just 17.2 innings pitched while holding opposing hitters to just a .203 batting average. Matching his 1-0 record is Maeda, who picked up the only win of the series against Cal State East Bay by tossing 5.0 strong innings and allowed only two runs (one earned), and he sits just behind Quesdada with a 4.22 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP. Two others have totaled double-digit punch outs, with lefty sophomore Brian Kraft striking out 11 over three appearances while Dueñas has carved up 10 hitters in a team-high six appearances. Tossing a pair of scoreless innings in relief was the duo of junior lefty Robert Perez and freshman Ricky Salas, as Salas fanned a pair without allowing a hit. 

HOLIER (NAMES) THAN THOU
Winners in three of their past four, Holy Names enters the battle with the Urban Knights with an overall record of 6-3 after sweeping Simpson in a three-game set to start the year before splitting a four-game series with Stanislaus State and a pair with Sonoma State. With their record, HNU just misses out on being ranked in the west region, falling just behind Stanislaus and Cal State San Marcos. Overall HNU has hit just above the .260 mark on the season, and only a pair of Hawks are clearing the .300 line with Neko Capsaliaris tops among them at an eye-popping .500 16-for-32) on the campaign. In addition to that .500 average, Capsaliaris has an OPS of 1.231 and is one of the top run producers by scoring eight times while driving eight others in, and smacking six doubles in the process. Also eclipsing the .300 mark is Jesus Hernandez, who is 12-for-34 (.353) with five runs scored, six RBI, two doubles and the only HNU homer of the year. On the mound, Nicholas Martinez has spun his way to a 2-0 record to go with a 2.08 ERA and 0.92 WHIP, all tops among pitchers who qualify on the the Hawks. Nearly as impressively, opposing hitters are batting just .196 against Martinez, and he has fanned 10 in 13.0 innings pitched. Though Holy Names won the last meeting between the two teams on April 24, 2022, Academy of Art has still won four of the past six and leads the all-time series 34-26. 

URBAN KNIGHTS LEAD IN EXTRAS BUT CSUEB TAKES SERIES FINALE
An intense series finale between Academy of Art baseball and Cal State East Bay had an equally dramatic finish, as despite ART U twice holding a lead in the later innings including in the top of the extra frame, CSUEB strung together a pair of runs in the bottom half to walk off winners 7-6 in 10 innings on Saturday. 

ON THIS DAY
On Feb. 20, 2015, a complete game and (then) school-record 13 strikeouts by starting pitcher (and now current ART U pitching coach) Nate Gercken helped lead the Academy of Art baseball to a 3-1 win and a doubleheader split against Northwest Nazarene at Laney College... On Feb. 21, 2022, Charles Morgan was named the Pacific West Conference Player of the Week after he was a combined 6-for-15 (.400) with six runs scored, five RBI, two walks, a double, and three dingers while also leading the PacWest in total bases for the week (16).

LOOKING AHEAD
The action for ART U continues towards the ends of the week when Academy of Art plays faces Simpson University for a three-game series.