GAMES #11-14
ART U (4-4) vs. Chico State (6-3, 2-2 CCAA)
Chico, CA -- Nettleton Stadium
Live Stats | Live Audio

Friday, February 21 at 2:00 PM
Saturday, February 22 at 11:00 AM (Game 1)
Sunday, February 23 at 11:00 AM

LEADING OFF
The Academy of Art University baseball team took one of four from Central Washington University in a series that featured a big comeback in their win. The Urban Knights stormed back from a 5-0 first inning deficit with four straight innings scoring two runs on the way to an 8-6 win. ART U has totaled up double digit hits in five of their eight games so far, and is averaging a whopping 10 hits per contest, hitting .323 as a team after the series with CWU.

CHICO SLIPS IN LATEST RANKINGS
The Knights played a series against Chico State last season that was closer than the final scores showed, as ART U was within reach in three of four games before one big inning proved to be their undoing. The Wildcats went all the way to Championship Saturday last season before being supplanted by Grand Canyon as the representative for the West Region in last season's NCAA Division II Super Regional. Chico started the year ranked #12 in D-II, but after a 6-3 start to the year, including a split with series split with UC San Diego, they have fallen to #21. Ryne Clark (.379) and Ruben Padilla (.357) have been leading the Wildcats at the plate, while Marcos Lara has pitched 16.1 innings and earned three wins while only allowing one earned run, good for a 0.55 ERA.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING
Academy of Art is finding the gaps in the defense, as evidenced by their batting average so far this year, and as a result have four players riding hitting streaks. Lyle "Kalani" Brackenridge has hits in five straight games and seven of eight total, and including his two-walk performance against American Sports University has reached base in every game this year. Sophomore Joseph Marchini has hits in four straight games and is hitting .310 overall, and has also swiped 6-of-6 on the basepaths. Catcher Kevin Decker has a hit in all four games that he has played in, scoring four runs, and Jordan Thomas continues his strong start to the year with hits in four consecutive games as well. Thomas , like Brackenridge, has only one game without a hit this year, and in that one game against Cal State Dominguez Hills he reached on a walk. He's currently hitting a torrid .522 on the year with five runs scored and seven RBIs.

WHAT'S ON DECK
After playing four games up north, the Urban Knights will head south to play back-to-back doubleheaders in their PacWest opening series against Azusa Pacific University. Their next home series won't be until March 10-12 against Dixie State.