FRESNO, Calif. – Though an Academy of Art baseball lead would slip away in the late innings, ART U would hang tough in the batters box during extra innings to draw a pair of bases loaded walks, ultimately winning the first of a four-game series over Fresno Pacific by a final of 8-7 in 13 innings on Thursday. 

It was an early offensive start for the Urban Knights (7-17), starting the game with a run in the top of the first after redshirt senior middle infielder Dominic Ruggiero tripled into right center field, scoring on the subsequent at-bat by senior outfielder Ty Conrad on an RBI groundout. 

The first crooked number of the game for ART U came in the second inning, as a double from junior outfielder Charles Morgan put a pair of runners in scoring position for junior the catcher/third baseman Robbie Brue, who would drive one home with an RBI single into center field. After the second out of the inning and a following two-out walk to load the bases, Ruggiero would produce in the clutch by driving in all three runners for a three-RBI triple. He is the first Urban Knight to tally multiple triples in the same game, and with six on his career has moved into sole possession of fifth place in ART U history. 

A crucial insurance run was added in the top of the third on back-to-back hits from graduate student catcher Ryan Gamboa and senior first baseman Vincent Lontz, the first of which was a double from Gamboa that made the game 6-0.

Though he would face a bases loaded jam with no outs in the first inning, Academy of Art freshman lefty Brian Kraft would not allow any runs in the frame, and would go one to keep the Sunbirds (11-8) off the scoreboard until they finally broke through with a four-spot of their own in the seventh. The Knights would use a total of three pitchers to get through the frame, but the lead they would cling to eventually disappeared as FPU scrapped together one run in each of the eighth and ninth innings, forcing more baseball. 

Neither team could get much offense going in the extra frames, but after a quick two outs in the top of the 13th, ART U loaded the bases thanks to a walk, a single up the middle, and a hit by pitch. The grinding at-bats would continue for the Knights, as they would then draw back-to-back walks by Conrad and graduate student outfielder Travis Turney to once again jump in front for the first time since the ninth. 

Running into a bit of trouble after keeping FPU scoreless over his previous 2.0 innings, right-handed senior Ryan Skillman would make way for fellow right-handed senior Collin Carriger, who pitched the final inning and allowed just one hit to collect his first save of the campaign while also preserving Skillman's first win of 2022. Though Skillman did allow a run, it was unearned, and he surrendered just one hit while striking out two in his appearance as he helped the Knights halt a seven-game losing streak.

After tallying three-fourths of the cycle by smacking two triples, a double and a single, Ruggiero posted nine total bases which is tied for the second most in ART U history, as he is the first to do so since Justin Summers also did it against Central Washington on Feb. 9, 2020. Also ending with multi-hit games were Brue and Gamboa, as Brue was 3-for-6 with a run and RBI while Gamboa was 2-for-7 with a run and a double. 

Games two and three of the series will be played tomorrow, as the two sides meet again at FPU Diamond with first pitch times set for 2 and 5 p.m.