Waipahu, Hawaii – In the first of four games against Hawaii Pacific University, Academy of Art University baseball wound up falling to the Sea Warriors 11-2 after HPU put seven runs on the board in the first two innings. Although sophomore right-handed pitcher Darnell Quinney struggled on the mound, he had the best offensive game of any Knight with a 2-for-3 performance including a walk. Overall AAU is now 0-4 on the season.

After a quick first inning for Academy of Art University, Hawaii Pacific utilized three steals in the bottom half of the first to score a pair of runs. Two more runs came home on a RBI double by Jacob Valentine in the second inning followed by three more unearned runs in the inning due to an error and passed ball by the defense.

AAU wouldn't stay off the scoreboard for long, however, because junior right fielder Mike Gutierrez connected on a RBI single with two runners on. HPU came through with a big four-run fourth inning highlighted by a RBI triple from Aaron Asher which moved the score to 11-1 in favor of the home squad.

The Urban Knights struck once more in the sixth inning when a fielding error allowed junior catcher Florentino Ubungen to come around to score, but the deficit had grown too big and AAU was unable to come back.

Defensively for the Knights, Quinney allowed 11 runs (however only four were earned) on eight hits and struck out three Sea Warriors over three innings. He falls to 0-2 on the season.eHe Junior righty Danny Couser came on to pitch five innings of scoreless ball and fanned two batters of his own.

Freshman first baseman Alex Rosenthal went 2-for-4 at the plate and was the only other Academy of Art University player to have a multi-hit game.

Hawaii Pacific, on the other hand, had four players with two hits each along with a solid outing for Chad Wagner who allowed one run on seven hits and achieved his third win of the season.

Both AAU and HPU will continue the four-game series and face off in a doubleheader on Feb. 21. The first pitch of game one is set for 2:00 PM at Hans L'Orange Field.