Game 1 Box Score
Game 2 Box Score

St. George, UT -- The Urban Knights string of strong pitching performances hit a bump in the road in the series finale against Dixie State on Friday, as the Red Storm took the doubleheader in convincing fashion. Dixie lumped a couple runs together at opportune moments against Zach Mexicano in game one to win 8-1, and a big 10-run fourth pushed them past the Knights 18-4 in game two. It was the last two meetings between these two teams in 2012.

Mexicano was coming off his best start of the year against Grand Canyon where he went nine innings for his first win of the year, but the ability he had to get out of sticky situations in Phoenix didn't follow him to Utah, as the Red Storm tagged him for two runs in the first and the fifth. The lefty still went seven innings, but Dixie was able to get 12 hits off of him, including the top three hitters going 7-for-13 with seven runs scored. Joe Andrade also had a hit, and knocked in four runs for the Red Storm.

Meanwhile, Stefan Cantwell held the Knights down on the offensive end, only allowing two hits and walking one while striking out five. His toughest inning came in the fifth, when the Knights mounted a two-out rally, started by a Bryce Hutchings single. He advanced to second on a wild pitch, one of three thrown by Cantwell, and then Niko Leite was hit by a pitch, but Zach Babitt flied out after a seven-pitch battle to end the threat.

"They're starting to see the ball better now, and they understand how the teams are going to pitch them," said head coach Brian Guinn. "They've been pitched to pretty well. Teams are now preparing to play us, and they're planning to slow us down. Dixie is a good team, they were playing at home, and they played us well."

Dixie added three more in the eighth when Yoshi Uemura came in for Mexicano. The freshman quickly got himself into trouble, walking three and throwing three wild pitches. He was unable to record an out, and Kallen Fletcher came in to close out the bottom of the eighth for Academy of Art, but it was still 8-0.

The Urban Knights put together a mini-rally in the ninth inning when Myles Babitt doubled to right-center, his team-leading seventh of the year. He took third on a wild pitch, but then Stefen Henderson struck out after a seven-pitch at-bat. Jared DePatto got the run around on a single to shortstop, and then James Singzon got a single to put two runners on with one out. But Wade Broadstreet grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the game.

Singzon was 2-for-4 on the day, while Zach Babitt, Myles Babitt, and DePatto were 1-for-4. Hutchings was 1-for-3 in the loss.


Game two was another tough outing for Niko Leite, who gave up four runs in the first inning before settling down in the second and third. On the other side of the ball, the Knights actually had the leadoff man on in the first three innings, but were unable to get any of them around to score. Broadstreet singled to lead off the game, but Zach Babitt grounded into a double play. Henderson walked in the second, but was out on a fielder's choice by Michael Reyes. Robbins had a bunt single to start the third, but was erased on a pickoff throw.

It wasn't a leadoff hit, but Reyes doubled in the fourth with two outs before Chris Holmes flew out to center. Reyes and Holmes had good games off the bench for the Urban Knights, both going 2-for-4 with a run scored.

"Any time you play four games in two days, everyone has to be ready to go," said Guinn. "Guys are going to get tired, and when they get tired, people have to be ready to take their spot. Those guys stepped right in there today and did a good job."

But the bottom of the fourth is where things fell apart for Academy of Art. Yuto Kata singled to start the inning. Garrett Nash reached on an error on a bunt attempt. The Knights fielded the next bunt play, getting Colton Yack out, and got Andrade to ground out, giving the Urban Knights a chance to get out of the inning only allowing a run. But Dixie wasn't done yet, and Tyson Littlewood drew a walk.

Spencer Roland came in for Leite, but had no luck, facing six batters without recording that final out. Mitch Manning doubled to left center. Jordan Hanley singled. Eric Bond was hit by a pitch. Tyler Slesk singled. Kata, who led off the inning, walked. Nash drew a walk. By then it was 10-0, and Guinn went to the bullpen again. Uemura came in, but the Red Storm went on to score four more off of him before he struck out pinch-hitter Rhett Neilsen to end the inning with Dixie up 16-0. 

"We still have to play better defense to come up with wins," Guinn said. "We had a little trouble with some fundamental things out there, and we've just got to lock everything down."

The Urban Knights got on the board in the next inning, when Robbins again got on to lead off the inning, doubling to left field. Three batters later, Zach Babitt singled him in, and the Knights loaded the bases after that but couldn't get anything else across. Dixie added two more in the bottom of the inning, but the Knights came up with a couple more in the top of the sixth.

Reyes led the sixth off by getting on base, the fifth leadoff batter in seven innings for the Urban Knights. Holmes followed that up with a single, and Robbins drew a walk to load the bases with nobody out. Devin Mason hit a sac fly, and then Zach Babitt had a 2-RBI single to center to make it 16-4. Myles Babitt got his second hit of the game, ripping the first pitch to left-center for a single, but the inning ended with a strikeout by Henderson.

The Babitt brothers have been impressive of late, with Zach leading the team in average and Myles now leading the team with seven doubles. Myles has been raising his average in the past couple weeks, as it hit its low point at .139 against Chico State. Since then, he has raised it over 100 points, hitting .333 (14-for-42) in that time.

"Myles is starting to get his baseball legs under him. He's seeing a lot of different pitches, and having good at-bats," Guinn said. "He was fouling off pitches before and now he's making some good contact."

The Knights had the same amount of hits as the Red Storm (11) and had five players with multi-hit games. Holmes, Reyes, and Myles Babitt all went 2-for-4, while Robbins and Zach Babitt were both 2-for-3 with a walk. Both Babitts and Reyes also had stolen bases for ART U.

"The guys are starting to have good at-bats. With at-bats, you're going to get good results," said Guinn. "They're buying into what we're teaching them, and it's starting to pay off. Given that we are a running team, the other guys have to make sure that they execute well all the time. The game isn't over until it's over."

The Knights will finally be back in the Bay Area next week, hosting Hawaii Hilo on March 31-April 2. All games will be played at Laney College in Oakland.