OAKLAND, Calif. – The Urban Knights (5-9, 1-0 PacWest) wielded a mixture of timely hitting and superb starting pitching to defeat Fresno Pacific (5-10, 0-1 PacWest) 8-6 on Thursday night.
 
Junior right-hander Brett Bovee started the game in dominant-fashion, only allowing one hit in the first three innings. In the fourth, Bovee almost worked his way out of a first and third situation with one out; however, a runner was allowed to score when senior third baseman Tyler Strawn overthrew first base when a potential inning-ending grounder was hit to his position.
 
Strawn made immediate amends in the bottom of the inning however, knocking in redshirt junior Erick Luna with a sacrifice fly to left field to tie the game at one run apiece.
 
The next couple of innings were back and forth between the two teams with ART U adding runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings and FPU responding with runs of their own in the top of the sixth and eighth.
 
After six innings had been played, the Urban Knights appeared to have the game in hand and led by a total of 8-2. However, the Sunbirds would rally for four runs in the top for the eighth and also threatened in the ninth with the tying run reaching scoring position. However, redshirt junior Cody Ball was able to shut down their efforts.
 
Although many players contributed throughout the game, there were several that stood out amongst the others. Redshirt junior Erick Luna went 3-for-5 with a run batted in and senior catcher Zack Trueblood recorded had a 2-for-4 night at the plate. Sophomore Michael Maleski also turned in two runs batted in after a two-run double in the seventh.
 
On the other side of the ball, Bovee tossed 7.0 innngs while allowing six hits, four runs (three earned) while walking two and striking out three. Ball also performed well, pitching 2.0 innings in relief on three hits, two earned runs, and two walks to earn his second save of the season.
 
The series will continue on Friday with a 4:00 p.m./7:00 p.m. double header at Laney Field.