GAME #17
AAU Urban Knights (2-14, 2-6) vs. HPU Sea Warriors (15-4, 10-2)
Thursday, Mar. 18, 2010 at 11:00 AM
Moraga, CA, Louis Guisto Baseball Field
GAME #18, 19 (Doubleheader)
AAU Urban Knights (2-14, 2-6) vs. HPU Sea Warriors (15-4, 10-2)
Friday, Mar. 19, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Moraga, CA, Louis Guisto Baseball Field
GAME #20, 21 (Doubleheader)
AAU Urban Knights (2-14, 2-6) vs. HPU Sea Warriors (15-4, 10-2)
Saturday, Mar. 20, 2010 at 12:00 PM
Moraga, CA, Louis Guisto Baseball Field
Game Notes (includes career/season-highs)
KNIGHTS WELCOME SEA WARRIORS FOR FIVE GAME SERIES:
The Academy of Art University baseball team tasted victory twice on its trip to Grand Canyon and did so in dramatic fashion. Eight games into the PacWest Conference season, AAU is in action against the league's top team, Hawaii Pacific University, this week.
FIRST PITCH:
Though originally scheduled to be played on Mar. 19-21, the five-game series with HPU now kicks off on Thursday, Mar. 18. This contest will be a nine-inning affair beginning at 11:00 AM. On Friday, Mar. 19, the teams play a pair of seven-inning games starting at 12:00 PM. And the series wraps up with two more seven-inning contests (the second will be non-conference) on Saturday, Mar. 20 at 12:00 PM as well. All games will be played at Louis Guisto Baseball Field on the campus of St. Mary's College in Moraga, CA. Live score updates for the AAU-DSC series can be found on the Urban Knights' athletics site, Twitter, and CollegeFanz.
KNIGHT SPOTLIGHT:
This past week was a historic one for Academy of Art University baseball. AAU won two games against Grand Canyon University and freshman right-handed pitcher Drew Sullivan-Hames (1-4) was instrumental in both victories. He saved the first win for sophomore righty Alex Rosenthal (1-4) and was the winning pitcher in the final game less than 24 hours later. Sullivan-Hames' seven strikeouts over 7.1 innings pitched give him the most innings (23.0) on the team and put him in a tie with junior righty Darnell Quinney (0-4) for the most strikeouts (17). Among regular starters, junior outfielder Ryan Worley leads the team in batting average (.340) and hits (17) while junior infielder Chris Vargas has the most runs batted in (7).
SCOUTING THE SEA WARRIORS:
Since the season began, Hawaii Pacific has continued to own the top spot in the PacWest standings with the league's best offense. HPU began 2010 by winning four consecutive games against Hawaii-Hilo State before the Vulcans managed a 7-2 victory on Feb. 15. After an 8-7 loss to Grand Canyon on Mar. 5, the Sea Warriors have now won six of their last eight games. Catcher Bas Nooij leads regular starters in batting average (.481), but infielder Blake Amaral has brought the power with five home runs and 28 RBIs. Lefty Caelan O'Meara (2-1), who sports a conference-best 2.08 ERA, paces HPU in innings pitched (26.0) and has two complete games in four starts.
AAU SPLITS WITH GRAND CANYON FOR FIRST VICTORIES:
In Phoenix, AZ for four contests versus GCU this past weekend, Academy of Art won its first two games in program history, a 5-4 triumph on Mar. 12 and a 8-6 victory on Mar. 13.
Rosenthal captured the first win for AAU with 5.0 innings of work, two earned runs allowed, and four strikeouts.
Sullivan-Hames earned the program's first save in that contest and in his start the next day, he came through with a strong 6.1 innings on the mound, two earned runs allowed, and seven strikeouts (the most in program history).
Quinney preserved the win for
Sullivan-Hames with the Knights' second save. Freshman first baseman
Andy Caniezo finished the series 3-for-6 with two runs scored and three runs batted in.
LOOKING AHEAD:
A single game against Cal State East Bay on Mar. 23 comes after the HPU series is complete. The Urban Knights then travel to St. George, UT for a four-game stint against Dixie State on Mar. 26-27 continuing PacWest play.
