OAKLAND, Calif. – Riding the momentum of a walk-off win in the second half of yesterday's doubleheader, Academy of Art kept it going into the series finale with Holy Names as ART U staked an early lead that they never relented, earning a split in their first Pacific West Conference series of the year thanks to a 5-3 victory on a wet and rainy Sunday at Laney College. 

"Today was a really hard fought game which really wasn't decided until the final out," said ART U Head Coach Dan McDermott. "[Fernando] Dueñas was nails again in the ninth when, with one out and runners on second and third, he induced a strikeout and game-ending pop up to seal the victory. Holy Names has an extremely scary lineup, and their first five hitters in the lineup are as good as any we will see in the conference."

Drawing the start for the Urban Knights (9-9, 2-2 PacWest) was junior right-hander Koh Maeda, his first since he was named the PacWest Pitcher of the Week, and he was in a groove again early against the Hawks (12-7, 2-2 PacWest). Following a one-out single in the top of the first for HNU, Maeda then retired the next eight consecutive batters including retiring the side in order twice during the second and third innings. 

Meanwhile, the Academy of Art bats put runners on in each of the first two innings including loading the bases in the second frame after the game's first rain delay, starting when graduate student outfielder Travis Turney was walked to open the action and subsequently stole second. Redshirt junior catcher Liam Rizzo was then hit by a pitch before Turney led a double-steal effort to move both into scoring position, though it left first base open for junior first baseman Ryne Lina, who was hit by a pitch. Unfortunately, a flyout to right field and a groundball double play spelled the end of the inning. 

All changed in the third as the Urban Knights put together a two-out rally following a pair of groundouts, as senior outfielder Hayato Niki drove a ball into the left-center gap to start the rally before graduate student outfielder Landon Levine battled through a seven-pitch at-bat that resulted in a walk. A fielding error by the HNU second baseman resulted in the game's first run, and a wild pitch with a pair of runners on moved them both into scoring position, setting the stage for a two-RBI single through the right side from Rizzo to make the game 3-0. For Rizzo, it was his second two-RBI single in as many games. 

Holy Names finally stopped Maeda's streak in the away half of the fourth as they loaded the bases with no outs, but Maeda danced out of danger as he first induced a weak comeback groundball that he flipped to Rizzo at the plate to get the first out of the inning. Maeda then was able to earn a flyball to shallow right field that prevented the HNU runners from tagging up, and got the last runner on a lineout to junior second baseman Larry Fonseca to keep the Hawks off the scoreboard. 

Once more HNU loaded the bases in the fifth, this time with one out, but again Maeda escaped without allowing any runs by earning a three-pitch strikeout and a flyout to Niki in center that kept the score locked. He was then rewarded with more run support in the home half of the inning, as Levine singled with a hard-hit ball to shortstop and later stole second to put himself in scoring position. With two outs in the inning, another HNU error allowed Levine to score and make the game 4-0. 

The sixth inning was when Holy Names finally broke through on the scoreboard, tagging Maeda for a pair of doubles in the first three batters to bring the game to 4-1 as ART U then turned to the bullpen. While the top of the inning featured a pair of Knights on the mound as well as the game's second weather stoppage, Academy of Art was able to strand a pair of Hawks on base and get to the bottom of the inning with just the one run allowed. 

Chipping away at the lead again in the top of the seventh, Holy Names started the inning with a leadoff double that scored two batters later after a pair of groundouts. However, the Knights got the run right back in the bottom of the seventh, with Lina mashing an RBI single into left that scored Levine who had initially reached on a walk.

A pair runners reached to start the eighth for Holy Names, as a pair of singles had both in scoring position with no outs facing newly entered ART U junior right-hander Fernando Dueñas. However, Dueñas was able to come all the way back as he fanned a pair of Hawks while getting the other to pop up and escape the damage. 

In the ninth Holy Names put together one final rally, scoring once on a two-out double down the right field line that scored a run and made the game 5-3, but following a mound visit Dueñas was able to induce the final flyout and pick up his fourth save of the season, which is now the second-most in a single season in ART U history. In his official line, Dueñas allowed just one run on four hits over 2.0 innings, striking out three in the process. It also preserved the win for Maeda who now leads the team with three, as he tossed 5.1 innings while allowing one run on five hits with one punch out and a pair of walks. 

"The pitching staff really came through in holding HNU to a total of only eight runs over the final three games," McDermott said. "The starting pitching was outstanding and our bullpen came through when we needed them."

On a day that featured five runs on seven hits, only one Urban Knight had a multi-hit game as Lina was 2-for-3 with an RBI, and only one totaled an extra-base hit as Niki was 1-for-5 with a double and a run scored. Rizzo had his pair of RBI while going 1-for-3, while Levine scored a total of three runs by going 1-for-2 with a pair of walks. While Turney reached via walk and error, he scored once and swiped a pair of bases to bring him to 10-for-11 (.909, team lead) on the season, and Levine had one of his own as he stayed perfect in stolen bases attempts at 9-for-9. 

"Levine and Turney were consistent contributors on offense and their at-bats gave the rest of the lineup something fo feed off of," McDermott said. "After a day off tomorrow, we will have two intense days of practice as we prepare for another three-day conference series at Fresno Pacific."

That PacWest series with the Sunbirds gets underway on Thursday, March 16 with the series opener beginning at 5 p.m.