OAKLAND, Calif. — Point Loma was not leaving Northern California without a fight Saturday, as the Academy of Art University baseball team fought to the last out in both games before the Sea Lions escaped with a Pacific West Conference doubleheader sweep, 4-3 and 5-2 at Laney College. 
Like Friday, PLNU (20-7, 8-4 PacWest) scored a majority of its runs on the day in two innings – one in each game – getting six of its nine total runs in two frames. But this time the ART U (5-20, 3-9 PacWest) pitching staff was ready, holding the Sea Lions to half their run total from the day before and keeping the Urban Knights in contention.
 
GAME ONE
 
Academy of Art was down but not out in the opener, as it entered the bottom of the ninth trailing by three runs but would load the bases and have the winning run on second base.
 
The rally started with a bang, as junior shortstop Tyler Strawn got an infield single to get things going before senior catcher Chucky Cavestany homered to left field on the second pitch he saw to pull ART U within one at 4-3.
 
The Knights weren't done, as junior third baseman Brett Adami got a one-out infield single, pinch hitter Maclane Brady drew a walk on a full count and Jordan Thomas got ART U's third infield single of the inning to load the bases with top batting average man, junior center fielder Joey Marchini, heading to the plate.
 
Marchini would strike out swinging though, going down on a 1-2 pitch up and away. Junior left fielder Greg Ivory followed and grounded into a fielder's choice on the first pitch to end the game.
 
Like Friday's opener, the first three innings were a dead heat with both starting pitchers holding down the opposition. Senior starting pitcher Nate Gercken stranded a single PLNU runner in each of the first three innings while Sea Lions' starter Kellen Sheppard faced the minimum through three, allowing only one hit.
 
And also like Friday's opener, the Sea Lions would bat around in the fourth inning and score four runs. The first seven PLNU batters all reached base with five base hits and two fielding errors, both by Gercken. The veteran would bounce back to end the threat, striking out AJ Derr looking and forcing Joseph Keller to ground into a 6-4-3 double play.
 
Gercken (3-4) went eight innings and gave up four runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks while striking out three. Sheppard (3-0) nearly went the distance before running into trouble in the ninth, finishing with 8 1/3 innings pitched and three earned runs on 10 hits. Coleman Huntley III finished off the last two outs to earn his seventh save of the year.
 
ART U outhit the Sea Lions in game one 11-8 but had five errors on defense. Four different Urban Knights had multi-hit games, including Cavestany who was 2-for-4 with his home run, two RBIs and a run scored. Adami went 2-for-4, senior second baseman Cody Edmunds was 2-for-3 with a run scored and Marchini was 2-for-5.
 
GAME TWO
 
The nightcap also followed a similar patter as Friday's game two, as Point Loma jumped out to a 2-0 first inning lead. Back-to-back doubles by Derr and Ryan Garcia scored the first run and Devin Carter's RBI single brought home Garcia to make it 2-0.
 
But ART U didn't let the Sea Lions get away this time. The Urban Knights cut the lead in half with an answer in the bottom of the first. Strawn drove home Marchini with a two-out RBI single, making it 2-1, but the Knights missed an opportunity for more, leading the bases loaded again.
 
ART U sophomore starting pitcher Josh Lopez settled in after that, not allowing a PLNU runner past first base for the next three innings. Academy of Art only got one runner into scoring position during that stretch however and the score stayed 2-1 into the fifth.
 
The teams exchanged runs in the fifth, with PLNU taking a 3-1 lead in the top half on another RBI double by Garcia scoring Derr and ART U pulling back within one on a two-out RBI single by senior catcher James Singzon. That was all the scoring Academy of Art would get, as Point Loma tacked on two more insurance runs in the sixth.
 
Trevor Abshire (3-1) took the win for Point Loma with five innings of two-run, six-hit ball with four strikeouts. Lopez (0-4) took the loss, giving up three runs on six hits in five innings pitched. Huntley also saved the nightcap for his eighth save.
 
The Urban Knights travel to St. George, Utah, to take on PacWest leader Dixie State in their first conference series on the road Friday and Saturday.