SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – Both parts of a Saturday twinbill between Academy of Art baseball and Westmont would see the Warriors use the same formula for success, as the home team pulled off a pair of comebacks despite ART U holding leads in the latter stages of each game. Game one would go the way of Westmont by a 8-7 final in walk-off fashion before following up with a 5-3 win in seven innings after taking their first lead in the sixth. 

"This team works so hard and it is very difficult to watch them come up short of tangible success," said ART U Head Coach Dan McDermott. "Once again, our starters [Cannon Secrist and Brian Kraft] pitched beautiful games and deserved better results."

Each of the two Urban Knights (11-31) starters worked into the final schedule inning of their respective games, but both senior right-hander Cannon Secrist and freshman lefty Brian Kraft saw the lead disappear in the final at-bats for the Warriors (39-6). Nearly every Urban Knight in the lineup had a hit in game one as they reached double-digit hits for the 13th time this season, but the Warriors answered the four-run ART U eighth with a four-spot of their own to walk it off in game one. Meanwhile, Westmont stifled the Academy of Art bats in game two, limiting ART U to just four hits, though they did take a 3-0 lead into the bottom of the sixth. 

GAME ONE – WC 8, ART U 7
Things started with a bang in the home half of the second when Westmont scored the game's first run on a solo home run to left field from Josh Rego, but ART U would respond with a run of their own in the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly from redshirt sophomore designated hitter Liam Rizzo. It scored senior outfielder Ty Conrad, who had led off the fourth inning with a single before moving all the way around to third on the following single from graduate student outfielder Travis Turney. 

In the following frame was when Academy of Art took its first lead, putting runners on after junior outfielder Charles Morgan was hit by a pitch and junior middle infielder Adam Inouye singled into left, setting the stage for an RBI single from redshirt senior middle infielder Dominic Ruggiero. ART U capped the inning off with an run-scoring sacrifice bunt, with the run batted in credited to Conrad on the play. 

Just as quickly as it came, the lead shifted after Westmont matched ART U with two runs of their own in their half of the fifth, knotting the game at 3-3 thanks to yet another Warriors homer. This one came off the bat of Brady Renck, a two-run shot to left center after Robbie Haw had led off the inning with a single. Westmont jump back in front in the bottom half of the seventh, plating a run thanks to an ART U wild pitch. 

The Academy of Art response was swift and explosive, as senior first baseman Vincent Lontz and freshman third baseman Emil Jellinek homered just two at-bats apart, both two-run shots that put the Knights on top by three. Lontz blasted an 0-2 pitch to straightaway right field to also score Rizzo, who had reached on a fielder's choice, while Jellinek scored graduate student catcher Ryan Gamboa who had reached on a single. 

Once more Westmont would match the Urban Knights by pushing across four runs in the bottom of the ninth, finishing off the comeback effort thanks to a combination of hits and errors to deny ART U a victory. 

Secrist would last 8.0+ innings with seven runs allowed, only six earned, on 11 hits with eight strikeouts in a no-decision effort. Not only has Secrist been improving his strikeouts per game over the last four contests, the eight punch outs he had today bring his season total to 90. Should he record 10 strikeouts over the next two series, Secirst would become the fist ART U pitcher to hit the century mark in a single season. Taking the win was Westmont reliever Cameron Phelps, tossing a clean ninth inning with no hits allowed or hits. Meanwhile, the loss would be credited to ART U sophomore righty Dallen Turner. 

Four different Urban Knights would all record multi-hit games, Inouye, Ruggiero, Lontz and Gamboa, with Lontz doing much of the damage by going 2-for-4 with two RBI, a run scored, a homer and a double. Also key in the momentum was Inouye, who went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Additionally, Jellinek was 1-for-4 with the two-run homer, his fourth home run of the season (trailing only Morgan on ART U). 

GAME TWO – WC 5, ART U 3
It took until the fourth inning for either team to find the scoreboard, with the Knights doing so on a run-scoring fielder's choice from Rizzo. Meanwhile, ART U would grind out another two runs in the top of the sixth for a 3-0 lead, first thanks to a Lontz sacrifice fly into center field before senior utility player would force the FPU defense to make an error and allow Conrad to scamper home. 

Down to their last two times at the plate, Westmont rallied for a total of five runs in their half of the six, capturing all of the game's momentum before ultimately shutting the door on any comeback opportunity that the Knights tried to string together in the top of the seventh. A homer started the sixth inning, and by the end the Warriors had scored four times on five hits. 

Earning the win for Westmont was Sam Kim, his third win of the year, while Haw picked up his fourth save with a perfect seventh inning. Taking the loss was Kraft, allowing five earned runs on seven hits in 7.1 innings pitched with seven strikeouts. 

Conrad scored two of ART U's three runs while ending his game 2-for-5, while Morgan tallied the only extra-base hit when he was 1-for-3 with a double. 

Academy of Art returns to Pacific West Conference play next week when the Knights travel across the bay to face off against Holy Names in a four-game series.