ALAMEDA, Calif. – Using timely offense and lights-out pitching, Academy of Art mowed through Holy Names for their second 4-game sweep of the season. The Urban Knights are now in the midst of a five-game winning streak.
 
GAME ONE: ART U 9, HNU 8
 
Academy of Art continued to pour on the offense in the series' third game against Holy Names, eventually scoring nine runs in the first contest of Saturday's doubleheader.  However, ART U needed each and every run to withstand an HNU comeback in the eighth which nearly denied the Urban Knights a 3-0 series lead. However, ninth-inning heroism from senior outfielder Izac Bauer gave Academy of Art the victory and the Knights a 4-game win streak.
 
Starting from the beginning, ART U immediately jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning: senior designated hitter Evan Ray's first run batted in of the day drove in senior infielder Taylor Martin from third base. The Urban Knights added two more runs in the top of the fourth, courtesy of Bauer who collected his first two RBI with a triple down the right-field line, giving Academy of Art a 3-0 lead.
 
However, the Hawks came back with two runs of their own in the bottom of the frame, scoring on an error and a sacrifice bunt, cutting the deficit to 3-2.
 
The Urban Knights went on to score five more runs over the next four innings, building themselves a 6-run, 8-2 lead with just six more outs remaining in the ballgame. It was then, in the bottom of the eighth, that Holy Names put together their biggest inning of the series, scoring six runs to come all the way back to tie the game 8-8.
 
ART U wasted no time in responding however, as junior infielder Angel Mora got on base with a leadoff single to start the ninth. After being replaced by senior infielder Brennan Mauchline as a pinch-runner, he advanced to third on a groundout and a balk. Then, with one out, Bauer came through with his fourth RBI of the game, a game-winning single up the middle to bring in Mauchline and propel the Knights into the lead, 9-8.
 
In the bottom of the frame, the Hawks made another comeback bid as their first two batters reached base safely. However, senior right-hander Chris Petrosie eventually shut HNU down, recording a pair of strikeouts to end the game. Petrosie earned the decision to improve his record to 2-0 on the season. Senior lefty Alex Fernandez (2-3) had a stellar start, tossing 7.0 innings while striking out a career-high, 10 batters and walking two. Despite allowing two runs, both were unearned.
 
On the offensive end, ART U had several standout players including Bauer who went 3-for-5 with a career-high, four RBI along with a run scored. Senior outfielder Jackson Murphy also collected three hits in the game, going 3-for-5 with three runs and a walk. Ray was 2-for-5 with two RBI and Mora went 2-for-4 with a run.

 
GAME TWO: ART U 5, HNU 1
 
Sniffing their second 4-game sweep of the season, Academy of Art would not be denied, shutting out the Hawks for the first 4.2 innings, eventually defeating HNU 5-1.
 
With two outs in the second inning, the Urban Knights did most of their damage, scoring three runs which were fueled by RBI from a Smith 2-RBI triple and an RBI single from Mora. The Knights added another the very next inning when junior designated hitter Donnie Gardiner hit a 1-out double and later scored on a wild pitch. Then, in the top of the fifth, ART U made it a 5-0 game when Martin's RBI single to right-center drove in Bauer.
 
Junior righty Gonzo Rios saw his 4.2 innings of scoreless baseball come to an end in the bottom of the fifth inning when HNU managed to plate their first run of the ballgame: With two outs and the bases loaded, an 8-pitch walk allowed Holy Names' Evan Maecker to score, but it went down in the books as unearned due to an error earlier in the frame. The run did not faze Rios however, as he went on to record his career-first complete game after a perfect, final two innings. His totals looked like this: 7.0 innings pitched, one run (unearned), three hits, three strikeouts, and two walks.
 
Murphy, Mauchline, and Martin each amassed three hits in the effort while Smith went 1-for-4 with two runs batted in and a run-scored.
 
This is the second 4-game sweep of the season for the Urban Knights and their first in program-history over Holy Names. ART U improves to 18-15 overall and 13-11 in PacWest-play and they are now in the midst of a 5-game win streak, the longest active streak in the conference. The Urban Knights will have a rare week off in the upcoming weekend, but they will be back in action when they head to San Diego to face Point Loma April 12-14.

"I am really happy for the boys," said head coach Dan McDermott. "They worked really hard, not just this weekend, but the entire month of March. Now, we have a week off from competition which we will use to get back to some of the fundamentals which have been helping us win games."