Box Score

Oakland, CA -- After four solid games of manufacturing runs on offense and limiting mistakes on defense, the Academy of Art University baseball team was stonewalled on both fronts on Friday afternoon against GNAC opponent Central Washington. The Knights produced 10 hits but couldn't scratch a run across, while their pitchers walked eight and their defense made three errors, which led to a final score of 11-0.

"We got runners on base, but any time you walk eight guys and make a few errors, it's going to be hard to win the game," said head coach Brian Guinn. "It's hard to win when you make those kinds of mental mistakes, and we're still cutting down on those and working on playing our game which is solid mistake-free baseball."

Aaron Garabedian took the mound and worked out of a jam in the first inning, as the first batter of the game, Cory Welch, reached on a throwing error. After two full-count walks to load the bases, Garabedian buckled down and worked out of it with a fly ball to left, and it stayed scoreless. The Knights also got the lead runner on, as Lyle "Kalani" Brackenridge singled to right center and went to second on a sacrifice bunt, but a strikeout and a groundout ended their threat as well.

The second inning was also scoreless, but in the third the Wildcats put together a two-out rally. With two down in the inning, Justen Weigel singled to center field. The next batter, Kasey Bielec, followed with a ball down the right field line that was right on the line, but a diving Daniel Robertson was handcuffed and with the umpire calling the ball in fair territory, there were two on with two out. Cameron Harper then doubled to right center and came around to score on a pair of wild pitches, and CWU led 3-0.

The Wildcats would go on to score in each of the next four innings, adding one in the fourth, two in the fifth, two in the sixth, and three more in the seventh. The big blow in the seventh inning was a 2-RBI single from Jake Levin that made it 11-0, while Bielec homered as part and Josh Potter also added an RBI double.

The Knights continued to get their hitters on base but just couldn't bring them around. They had at least one runner on base in every inning except for the fourth and eighth, and would end the game leaving eight runners on base. They had back-to-back singles in the bottom of the ninth and looked to make another comeback like they had against Cal State Dominguez Hills, but a foul-out and a groundout ended the game.

Joseph Marchini had three hits along with his sacrifice bunt in the first, while Jordan Thomas went three-for-four with a double for another multi-hit game. Garabedian (1-1) was beset with the loss, but Josh Lopez and Dylan Rodrigues combined for 2.1 innings of shutout baseball to close out the game. Brandon Williams (2-0) went seven shutout innings for Central Washington, striking out seven and giving up seven hits.

The two teams play again on Saturday, a doubleheader with the first pitch of Game 1 scheduled for 10:00 AM.