Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Hilo, HI --  In a pair of games that had each team alternate taking the lead, the Academy of Art University baseball team found themselves on the wrong end of the see-saw, as both games tilted in UH Hilo's favor. The Urban Knights closed the gap in the first game, only to have it open up again as they fell 7-3, while the second game was a wild one that saw the Vulcans answer every charge the Knights made before taking the lead for good in an 8-5 loss in the series finale. 

The Urban Knights continued to get runners on base, but also continued to have trouble getting them around to score. Stefen Henderson and Lyle "Kalani" Brackenridge walked back to back to lead off the game, but after a strikeout, Henderson was caught stealing for the first time this season, and the Knights threat was ended. They would take the lead in the second, again drawing back to back walks to start the inning. After a sacrifice bunt from Dante Redhead, a wild pitch put the Knights on the board.

But the Vulcans response was immediate, as they struck for three runs off of freshman Nick Boyett in the second. Two walks turned into two runs when Austin Cusack hit a double to left center, and would later score on a single to center to make it 3-1. They added another in the third on a wild pitch with the bases loaded.

ART U came back again in the fourth, scoring once when Dante Redhead doubled in Myles Babitt with one out, and adding another on an RBI groundout from freshman Cody Edmunds. The Knights had a chance to add more, but Hilo made a pitching chance and induced a fielder's choice from Brackenridge to leave the bases juiced and keep the score 4-3.

Hilo would add on in the sixth, using two triples and a double off of Boyett that would make it 6-3. The final run for the Vulcans came in the eighth inning of off Hawaii native Kai Fink, who gave up a bases loaded single from Keenan Kaluau to make it 7-3, which ended up being the final score.

The Knights ended up leaving seven men on base, as they coaxed eight walks in addition to their three hits off of Hilo pitching. Henderson took three of those walks, while the only mutli-hit game came from the Hilo side, from Steffen Miner, who also added a pair of RBIs. 



The nightcap was the definition of a see-saw battle, as the two teams mirrored each other for the first four innings. ART U scored in the first when Brackenridge and Ryan Ramirez hit back-to-back doubles to make it 1-0. Hilo, in their half of the first, got a double, a wild pitch, and a single to tie it up off of Knights starter Samm McAlear, and after an inning the score was tied 1-1.

Academy of Art got it fired up again in the second inning, getting a walk from Redhead and a bunt hit from Jeremy Williams. After a strikeout from Joey Marchini and a bunt from Edmunds, Henderson walked to load the bases before Brackenridge had a single to center that scored two runs to make it 3-1. Yet again, Hilo answered getting a homer from Greg Cleary and a bases-loaded walk to make it 3-3.

Neither team scored in the third, but the Knights retook the lead in the fourth, getting a one-out single from Marchini, who then took second on an error by the right-fielder. He would advance to third on a failed pickoff attempt, and then scored on a wild pitch, and it was 4-3. In the home half, Garrett Micheels was hit by a pitch, took second on a sacrifice bunt, went to third on a wild pitch, and then scored on a double steal, and again it was tied up at 4-4.

ART U was held off the board in the fifth, but instead of following the pattern, Hilo took advantage of a pair of errors by the Knights to start the inning. Both of those runs came around to score on a single from John Abreu, and another two came in on an RBI knock from Micheels, and the Vulcans had their first lead at 8-4.

Both teams went down in order but the Knights had their last chance in the seventh and made the most of it. Henderson led off with a double, and Brackenridge got his third hit of the day with an infield single to shortstop. Ramirez reached on a fielder's choice to cut the lead to 8-5, but Ryan Donahoe, batting for himself, grounded into a game-ending double play.

Brackenridge ended the night 3-for-4 with two RBIs. Ramirez also had two batted in for the Knights, who left five on base but also stranded 10 Vulcans on the basepaths. Tonight's game also marked the end of an era for UH Hilo, who had the emotional boost of head coach Joey Estrella's final game in the dugout for the Vulcans after 37 years at the helm.

The Knights will have Sunday off before playing Hawaii Pacific on Monday and Tuesday. Both days will be doubleheaders, starting at 4:00PM Pacific Time.