OAKLAND, Calif. – Career-firsts ruled the night for ART U baseball: a two-run home run from junior infielder Angel Mora and a complete game from senior left-hander Alex Fernandez made the difference in ART U's 6-3 win in the series-opener against UH Hilo.
 
To start the game however, both sides were engaged in a pitching duel which kept things scoreless until the fifth inning. Fernandez's performance was strong from the get-go, including a 7-pitch top the first, an 11-pitch second, and he did not allow a hit until the third.
 
It was the Vulcans who got on the board first, scoring an unearned run in the fifth inning off of a pair of hits and a throwing error. Nonetheless, UHH's lead did not last for long as ART U scored three times in the bottom of the inning: with two outs, junior infielder Elijah Smith reached with a single up the middle, setting up Mora's two-run home run in the next at-bat. The Urban Knights were not yet finished, however: senior outfielder Jackson Murphy singled through the left side and stole second base before senior outfielder Evan Ray drove him in with an RBI single to left field.
 
In the following inning, the Vulcans replaced their pitcher, but ART U jumped on him right away, scoring three more runs to make it a 6-1 ballgame.
 
Fernandez went back to work and delivered strong seventh and eighth innings, allowing just one hit during that time. In the ninth, UH Hilo looked to make a comeback as they plated a pair of unearned runs. However, it was not enough as the Urban Knights ultimately held on for the 6-3 victory.
 
Smith tied his career-high with three hits (3-for-5) while driving in a run and both Mora (1-for-3) and Ray (1-for-2) collected two RBI each. ART U's offensive effort was aided by six hit-by-pitches which is a new single-game, program record.
 
With the win, Academy of Art improves to .500 overall on the season (19-19) and they are 14-15 in conference. The Urban Knights are just one win away from tying the program record in overall wins (20) and two away from tying the highest conference-wins mark (16). ART U and UHH will be back at it on Sunday when they return to Laney College for a doubleheader which will begin at 1:00 p.m.