OAKLAND, Calif. – The finale of 2022 for Academy of Art baseball brought action from the first inning through the last, as ART U twice established a lead early on against Fresno Pacific in Saturday's Pacific West Conference battle before ultimately walking away 8-6 winners on Senior Day. 

"What a wonderful day of baseball to end the season," said ART U Head Coach Dan McDermott. "Our student-athletes played pretty well against a really tough Fresno Pacific team that is ranked fifth in the west region."

After Urban Knights' (15-35, 8-16 PacWest) senior right-hander Cannon Secrist breezed quickly through the first unbothered by a two-out single, ART U immediately set out to give him run support early. The bases would load thanks to a single sandwiched by a pair of walks to set the table for graduate student outfielder Travis Turney, who just missed a grand slam by a matter of feet after his hard hit shot to left center slammed off the wall resulting in a two-run double. Still with a pair of runners in scoring position, sophomore left fielder Liam Rizzo added to the lead in the next at-bat with a sacrifice fly to center. 

Wasting no time in forming a response were the Sunbirds (27-19, 16-12 PacWest), matching the Knights with a three-spot of their own in the away half of the second on the strength of four hits that included a pair of doubles. Only that half inning would remained tied, as Academy of Art jumped back in front during their at-bats with an RBI single from redshirt senior middle infielder Dominic Ruggiero just prior to an RBI double from senior outfielder Ty Conrad for ART U's fifth run of the contest.

Inning three brought a scoring break for both sides, but the Knights got back to work with a complete two-out rally in the bottom half of the fourth. A pair of flyouts would quickly retire two, but singles from Ruggiero and Conrad put runners on the corners after Ruggiero was able to scurry from first to third, allowing the pair to execute a perfect double steal. With Conrad still aboard at first, Turney delivered his second double of the game down the right field line to push the Knights' cushion to 7-3. 

Both sides traded a run in the fifth after a one-out triple in the top half of the frame helped Fresno Pacific steal a run back, but Academy of Art borrowed the FPU scoring method as senior designated hitter Ryan Skillman launched the first triple of his career into the right-center gap and scored on a subsequent RBI single from junior third baseman Robbie Brue. 

Things tightened again in the top of the sixth when the Sunbirds cut the deficit back to just two runs, doing so on one swing from Khalid Johnson. His third home run came in the form of a two-run blast to left center, bringing the game to its eventual final score of 8-6. 

Though the final score had been reached, the contest was far from settled as FPU put runners aboard in each of the final three innings, including a pair of runners on in the top of the ninth and the winning run at the plate with only one out. Pushing on and aiming for his team-leading seventh complete game of the campaign, Secrist finished the job in a tension-filled final frame with a punch out looking and a groundout. 

"Cannon Secrist pitched a great game and really battled," McDermott said. "He was able to space out the FPU hits and prevent them from having a big inning."

While FPU was able to get to Secrist for six runs, he fanned seven batters for the seventh time this season, ending as the winning pitcher of record for his ART U-leading fifth win of 2022. Taking the loss was FPU starter Jared Aguilar, who last just 1.2 innings while allowing five earned runs on five hits. 

Tallying his third double of th game in the sixth inning was Turney, which tied an ART U record that had been accomplished only one other time before on Apr. 17, 2010 by Jared DePatto when he did so against Bethany University. Turney ended the day a perfect 3-for-3 with a trio of RBI and a walk, and also collecting three hits was Ruggiero by going 3-for-5 with three runs scored and an RBI. Both Conrad and Skillman posted multi-hit games as well, as Conrad was 2-for-3 with two runs scored, an RBI and a double, while Skillman was 2-for-4 with two runs scored and the triple. Brue snatched the final hit of the day with his run-scoring base knock, closing 1-for-4. 

Prior to the game, ART U hosted a ceremony to honor the careers and contributions to the program of seven seniors: middle infielder Dominic Ruggiero, first baseman Vincent Lontz, right-handed pitcher and utility fielder Ryan Skillman, right-handed pitcher Morgan Edwards, right-handed pitcher Collin Carriger, outfielder Ty Conrad, and catcher Ryan Gamboa. All seven Urban Knights were crucial pieces of last year's ART U squad that was the first to ever make the playoffs, and leave with numerous Academy of Art single-season and career records. 

"Our seven seniors contributed so much to our program, and it is hard to imagine this program without them," McDermott said. "It was a great Senior Day and ending with a win made it even better. The weather was great, we had an enthusiastic crowd, and the parents put on a great spread for the [team] after the game."

Now that the 2022 season has concluded, the focus turns to 2023 and for all the latest ART U baseball news and updates, make sure to check www.ARTUAthletics.com.