Game #24 & 25
ART U Urban Knights (10-12, 3-5 PacWest) at BU Eagles (8-17, 2-6 PacWest)
Saturday, March 25, 2023 at 11 a.m. & 2 p.m.
La Mirada, Calif. – Eagles Diamond
Live Stats | Live Video

Game #26 & 27
ART U Urban Knights (10-12, 3-5 PacWest) at BU Eagles (8-17, 2-6 PacWest)
Sunday, March 26, 2023 at 11 a.m. & 2 p.m.
La Mirada, Calif. – Eagles Diamond
Live Stats | Live Video

DOWN SOUTH
Continuing forward in the Pacific West Conference portion of the 2023 campaign, Academy of Art baseball embarks on the next part of its road trip as the Urban Knights begin a four-game conference series down in Southern California against Biola beginning on Saturday. 

FIRST PITCH
This four-game set will be featured as a pair of doubleheaders, with a pair of games on both Saturday and Sunday that have identical first pitch times of 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Remember to follow @ARTU_Knights via the athletics app (Apple App Store, Google Play Store) and on Twitter & Instagram, as well as "Like" the Urban Knights on Facebook for score updates, videos, and recaps.

KNIGHTS' QUEST
The Urban Knights split the first two games of their PacWest series-opening doubleheader with Fresno Pacific, dropping game one 11-1 before coming back and exploding for nine runs on eight hits with yet another homer on the day while junior right-handed starter Devan Quesada was nearly perfect through six innings, resulting in a 9-3 victory during the shortened second game. Unfortunately, FPU would take the series when they swept the second doubleheader the following day, as while ART U scored first in both parts of the twin bill, it was the Sunbirds that scored more to walk away with wins by finals of 8-4 and 4-1. 

It was an 0-3 start to the 2023 season for Academy of Art despite scoring a total of 16 runs (twice scoring six runs in a game), dropping the season opener against Stanislaus State before dropping both games against Sonoma State after rain shortened the series from three games down to two. The first wins of the season followed as they secured exciting solo victories over Fresno Pacific and Central Washington (both non-conference) thanks to home runs in consecutive games from redshirt junior catcher Liam Rizzo, though they were then limited to taking just the middle contest of three against Cal State East Bay. Continuing the stretch was Holy Names and Simpson, as the Hawks took the first matchup of the season with continued offense while Simpson won the only currently completed game of what was supposed to be another three-game series. 

Following that period, Academy of Art was victorious in each of their past four games starting with another solo contest against Holy Names, that this time the Knights got the better of by a 5-2 final to level the season series prior to the duo opening conference play against each other. Rolling into the weekend, rain forced some flexibility into what was originally scheduled as a four-game series, but even still there were three games completed with ART U taking all three in comeback fashion. A four-run sixth inning helped a 5-3 win in the opener, ART U battled through a Menlo six-run first in the middle game to win 12-9, and then closed the series with a four-run inning late combined with a brilliant relief appearance from junior right-hander Koh Maeda leading to a 5-4 victory. 

Just a day later, Maeda was tabbed as the PacWest Pitcher of the Week on March 6, as he held the Menlo bats to just three scattered hits over seven scoreless innings while picking up his second victory of the year in the series finale. This is the first weekly award for Maeda both this season and in his career, though it is the second weekly award by an Urban Knight this season as he joins senior outfielder Hayato Niki who was named the PacWest Player of the Week on Feb. 20. It is the third consecutive year that ART U has had multiple PacWest weekly awards and at least one PacWest Pitcher of the Week. 

While Holy Names won each of the first two games in the first PacWest series of the season for both teams, Academy of Art was able to rally and win the final two games, which included a walk-off win in game three while a solid all-around performance propelled ART U to the series split with the Hawks. Pitching was the theme of the doubleheader during games two and three, as while a pair of runs scored a win for HNU in game two, ART U then had the exciting walk-off win in game three after forcing the pressure on the Hawks' defense which led to the game-winning run scoring on an error. Riding the momentum of the walk-off, the Knights kept it going in the series finale they staked an early lead that they never relented, earning a split in their first PacWest series of the year thanks to a 5-3 victory on a wet and rainy Sunday at Laney College. Having already played six games against each other, splitting them 3-3 with each winning one of the solo non-conference contests over the past couple weeks, that will leave the winner of the regular season's final game between the two teams to decide the season series winner. 

KNIGHT WATCH
Though it has since ended, graduate student outfielder Landon Levine had extended his team-best hitting streak to 10 games while his reached bases safely streak made it to 12 games, and he continues to lead the team (among those who qualify) in OPS (.892), slugging percentage (.474), home runs (three), RBI (22) and total bases (37). Meanwhile, he is third in batting average (.295, 23-for-78) while tying for second in runs scored (18) and sitting fourth in doubles (five). Additionally, he is a perfect 9-for-9 in stolen base attempts, and his 22 runs driven in are just two shy of the ART U single season top-10 list (aided by his nine-game RBI streak to begin the year). 

Currently leading the squad in batting average is graduate student outfielder Travis Turney at .305 (18-for-59), while hot on his tails is senior outfielder Hayato Niki at an even .300 (24-for-80; most hits on ART U). Turney is one of four Knights with 10+ runs scored and driven in, recording 14 in both categories with six doubles (tied for second-most) and 24 total bases. For Niki, he has scored the second-most runs on ART U (18 along with Levine) while driving in seven with six doubles. Leading the team in runs is freshman shortstop Gabe Henderson with 19, which he has paired with 11 RBI, a team-high seven doubles, two triples, and a .273 batting average (21-for-77). Posting the second-most RBI on the squad is redshirt junior catcher Liam Rizzo, who has driven in 21 on the year with six coming on a pair of three-run homers in consecutive games earlier this season, and he (along with Levine) is just on the outside of the ART U single-season top 10. Tying Levine in homers is sophomore third baseman Emil Jellinek, who also has scored 13 runs and driven in seven. 

From the hill, both junior right-handers Koh Maeda and Devan Quesada have earned three wins this season, with Quesada sporting a 3-1 record while Maeda sits at 3-2. Between the two, its Maeda who has posted the lower ERA at 3.77 (13 earned runs in 31.0 innings pitched) to the 4.67 of Quesada (18 earned runs in 34.2 innings pitched; most innings on ART U), though Quesada has a lower WHIP (1.10 to the 1.35 of Maeda) and his 29 punchouts are a team-high (17 for Maeda). Excelling out the bullpen this season has been junior right-hander Fernando Dueñas, who holds the team lead in ERA at 2.31 (six earned runs in 23.1 innings pitched) to go with his 2-1 record and team-high four saves (which is now second-most in a single ART U season). Though he does not technically qualify, graduate student right-hander Cannon Secrist has been solid in his last few outings, dropping his ERA to 2.57 (six earned runs in 21.0 innings pitched) along with a 1.48 WHIP and 20 strikeouts. 

FLY LIKE AN EAGLE
Having rough sledding through the early going of the season is Biola, who won their first series of the year against Cal State San Marcos, but has dropped all but one other series which includes a sweep by Hawaii Pacific in BU's first PacWest series of the year as well as recently losing three of four against Point Loma. Thus far through the campaign the Eagles are hitting just .253 (200-for-790) and averaging 5.52 runs per game, though the Eagles' power has been apparent as they have crushed 34 home runs so far this season (1.36 per game). Though no Eagles who qualify are above the .300 line, there are three hitting above .275 which is led by the .297 (22-for-74) mark from Taylor Justus, though among the most productive has been Wyatt Duncan who is hitting .284 (27-for-95) with 21 runs scored, seven doubles, 10 homers and 19 RBI (all except batting average are team-highs). From the hill, Both Andrew Beauvais and Lucas Bixby have nearly identical numbers, as Bixby is 2-4 with a 5.85 ERA (26 earned runs in 40.0 innings pitched) and a 1.35 WHIP (most wins and lowest WHIP of those who qualify). Meanwhile, Beauvais has an even 1-1 record to go with a 5.34 ERA (22 earned runs in 30.1 innings pitched; lowest ERA of those who qualify) and a 1.52 WHIP. Biola has won each of the last three meetings with the Urban Knights, and they lead the all-time series, 8-4. 

ART U SCORES FIRST TWICE, BUT FPU TAKES DAY AND SERIES
Riding the momentum of a win in game two and looking to get above .500 for the first time this season, Academy of Art baseball reached the scoreboard first and held brief leads in both parts of Saturday's twin bill against Fresno Pacific, but FPU twice came back to take the day's doubleheader and the series by finals of 8-4 and 4-1 (7 innings). 

ON THIS DAY
On March 24, 2018, Academy of Art bounced back in a big way during game two of a series with Biola as the Knights exploded for a [then] season-high 15 hits to propel them to a 10-7 victory over the Eagles, with Jackson Murphy the Urban Knights' primary offensive contributor as tied the single-game program record in both hits (four) and RBI (five) ... On March 25, 2014, ART U split a wet and rainy doubleheader with Hawaii Pacific, dropping the opening game 11-1 in a contest that featured a 20-minute rain delay, then came back and received 7.2 shutout innings from Nick Giotta combined with clutch hits for a 4-1 win ... On March 26, 2019, the Urban Knights dominated the later innings of the series finale against Hawaii Pacific to comeback from a 7-2 deficit in the fifth inning and emerge victorious with an 8-7 win, with three Urban Knights collecting multiple hits and Galen Manhard recording his conference-leading fifth save.

LOOKING AHEAD
Southern California action continues for the Urban Knights, as they stay in the region to battle against PacWest foe Concordia in a four-game conference series beginning with a doubleheader on March 31 at 2 and 5:30 p.m.