HONOLULU -- Playing their first PacWest conference series on the road, Academy of Art dropped both games of the doubleheader versus Hawaii Pacific, Saturday at Hans L'Orange Park.

Game 1: HPU 13, ART U 1
The PacWest team batting average leading Sharks got off to a quick start with three straight hits in the bottom of the first. A double drove in the first run of the game and a sacrifice fly capped off a two run first. The Sharks continued their offensive assault in the second inning with another three runs before senior utility Caden Spilsbury came in and worked out of the jam by getting the first batter he faced to pop up.

ART U came back in the top of the third and scored their first run of the game after junior shortstop Justin Summers drew a walk to start the inning and stole second to put himself in scoring position for senior first baseman Josh Carlin who drove in Summers on a single to center field. But HPU's offense was relentless adding another three runs in the third and five in the sixth for a 13-1 advantage. The Knights did well to hold the Sharks for the remainder of the game including a scoreless frame from senior pitcher Ben Clegg, but HPU kept their lead to take game one.

"HPU really came out swinging the bats," said head coach Dan McDermott. "We have to tip our hats to them as we actually played error free baseball and only gave up two walks. Jayson Summers, Ben Clegg, and Splisbury pitched well in relief and gave us the innings we needed to remain competitive."

Game 2: HPU 5, ART U 4
Junior outfielder Thomas Delgadillo extended his hit streak to 11 early in game two, with a single through the right side to start the second inning. Senior catcher Zak May sac bunted him into scoring position for senior utility Donnie Gardiner who drove him in on a single to left. Gardiner went third to first next batter on a junior third baseman Fabian Barcena double to left center to give ART U a 2-0 lead. May led off the fourth with his first triple of the season before senior first baseman Angel Mora put him across with a base hit.

Senior pitcher Mason Verhees worked three scoreless innings before HPU scored their first runs in the fourth, plating three to tie the game headed into the fifth. The Sharks took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the sixth putting pressure on the Urban Knights in their final at bats. With only three outs to work with Carlin drew a walk to start the inning. Junior utility Daniel Curiel laid down a sac bunt to put Carlin in scoring position. Down to their final out and still down by one, sophomore utility Noah Daubin came in to pinch hit and after bringing the count to 1-1 hit a clutch double to center field to score Carlin and tie the game. But, in the bottom half of the inning Jordan Mopas ended the game with a home run giving HPU a 5-4 win.   

"Game two  featured both Verhees and Gonzo Rios pitching well," commented McDermott. "We had them on the ropes several times, but just couldn't finish it off. All in all I am very proud of the way the guys battled today. We fought hard and stuck with the process. While we were disappointed with the results, we will look forward to tomorrow."

After the pair of losses ART U moves to 11-9 overall and 3-6 in conference. Academy of Art will be back between the lines of Hans L'Orange Park for the third game of the series tomorrow at 5 p.m. PT.