Game #38
ART U Urban Knights (14-24, 7-17 PacWest) vs. APU Cougars (27-17, 18-10 PacWest)
Thursday, April 20, 2023 at 5 p.m.
Azusa, Calif. – Cougar Baseball Field
Live Stats | Live Video

Game #39 & 40
ART U Urban Knights (14-24, 7-17 PacWest) vs. APU Cougars (27-17, 18-10 PacWest)
Friday, April 21, 2023 at 1 & 4 p.m.
Azusa, Calif. – Cougar Baseball Field
Live Stats | Live Video

Game #41
ART U Urban Knights (14-24, 7-17 PacWest) vs. APU Cougars (27-17, 18-10 PacWest)
Saturday, April 22, 2023 at noon
Azusa, Calif. – Cougar Baseball Field
Live Stats | Live Video

TURN THE PAGE
Turning the page from honoring the 2023 senior class at the final home series of the year last time out, Academy of Art baseball closes the campaign on the road as the Urban Knights begin a nine-game road trip that begins with four games against Azusa Pacific in Pacific West Conference action beginning on Thursday. 

FIRST PITCH
This four-game set will be split across three days, with the series opener getting underway on Thursday at 5 p.m. while Friday's twin bill is set for first pitch times of 1 and 4 p.m. The series finale on Saturday will commence at noon. 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
Despite the Urban Knights coming one run shy of their season-high in the series opener against Hawaii Pacific, the final home season of the year for Academy of Art, big innings for Hawaii Pacific swung the game in the Sharks' favor 18-12 before rolling into a 9-4 win during the shortned second game. Taking the field the following day for the series-closing doubleheader on Senior Day, the Urban Knights started the day by honoring the careers of outfielders Hayato Niki and Travis Turney, as well as right-handed pitcher Cannon Secrist, with a pregame ceremony prior. When it came to the action, ART U pounded out another 19 hits after 21 just a day earlier, but the Sharks still walked away victorious by finals of 5-3 and 10-5 (seven innings). 

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 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 day 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. 

The Urban Knights split the first two games of their PacWest series-opening doubleheader with Fresno Pacific, dropping game one 11-1before 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. 

Academy of Art blasted three homers over the course of its four-game set with Biola, but despite holding a lead in three of the four contests (including scoring first in games two and four), it was the Eagles that came away with a PacWest series sweep. In the series-opening doubleheader, multiple extra-base hits (including the first home run in an ART U jersey by Niki) and a manufactured run were key in ART U's comeback to tie game one at 3-3, but a pair of three-run innings in the sixth and eighth were the difference for the Eagles. To end the weekend Academy of Art crushed both of their homers in the series finale, but in both games three and four BU was able to put together multiple run-scoring innings late leading to the twin bill victory. 

After UH Hilo took both of the first two games from a four-game PacWest series, Academy of Art came back in a big way game during game three as the Urban Knights walked off winners by a 4-3 final when senior outfielder Hayato Niki produced a two-out, two-RBI base knock that saw great heads-up baserunning by sophomore second baseman Larrry Fonseca score from second on the play. Following that in the series finale was a strong pitching performance by the ART U duo of sophomore left-hander Brian Kraft and graduate student right-hander Cannon Secrist, which combined with four extra base hits led to a 4-2 victory for a doubleheader sweep to split the seies. 

Prior to each fo the games with Hilo, Kraft became the Urban Knights' first pitcher to ever earn a national weekly honor for his performance against the Golden Eagles on April 6, as he was named the NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week after held the Concordia lineup without a hit for seven innings and setting a new career-high with 10 strikeouts, which included punching out four of the final five batters to secure his first victory of the season. That performance helped him join Ben Kaser as the only two Urban Knights to throw a no-hitter in ART U history, with Kaser doing so in another seven inning game against Simpson on Feb. 17, 2018 in a 1-0 shutout win, though Kraft is the first to do so against an NCAA Division II opponent and had double the strikeouts (10 to five). The lone earned run that scored was a result of four walks, two wild pitches and a sacrifice fly. 

Over the prior two days Kraft collected other weekly awards, as April 3 he was named the PacWest Pitcher of the Week before earning the NCBWA West Region Pitcher of the Week on April 4. It is the third consecutive year that ART U has earned three total PacWest weekly awards with two being PacWest Pitcher of the Week honors, and it is the fifth consecutive year earning at least one PacWest weekly honor (excluding shortened 2020 season; multiple honors in all but 2019). Additionally, he is the first Urban Knight to earn the NCBWA West Region Pitcher of the Week award since Collin Carriger earned the award on March 1, 2022, and ART U has had at least one such award in each of the last three years (two in 2021; Carriger on May 3 and Matthew Sanchez on Mar. 10). 

KNIGHT WATCH
Tops on the Knights in hits and average this season is senior outfielder Hayato Niki, batting .343 (47-for-137) with 32 runs scored, 20 runs driven in, 12 doubles and one homer. He is now the third Urban Knight this season to score and drive in 20 or more runs, along with graduate student outfielder Travis Turney who is hot on his tails in average by hitting .336 (40-for-119) with 22 runs scored and 24 driven in, while also recording a triple and team-highs in doubles (14) and stolen bases (17; eighth most in ART U season). Recently Niki recently saw an 11-game hitting streak end while Turney also closed his 17-game reached base safely streak during the same game, both of which set new team highs. 

The other in the 20/20 category is graduate student outfielder Landon Levine, who has the third-highest average on the squad at .288 (38-for-132) along with 26 runs scored, 29 RBI, five doubles and four homers. His homers are currently the team lead, while the RBI are the most on ART U and now fourth-most in an Academy of Art season. With one more RBI, Levine will be just the fourth Urban Knight to driven in 30 runs in a season, and would tie the current third place mark set by ART U assistant coach Elijah Smith. 

Trailing shortly behind in RBI is redshirt junior catcher Liam Rizzo, as 27 runs batted in are tied for seventh-most in a single ART U season. Another key producer has been freshman shortstop Gabe Henderson, as his .284 average (40-for-141) is fourth on the team while his 32 runs scored are tied for the lead with Niki while also holding sole possession of the team lead for triples with two. Rizzo has brought his average to .255, scoring 18 times with six doubles and two homers. 

From the hill, junior righty Devan Quesada leads the team in wins after he collected his fourth of the year (4-3) recently thanks to a complete game quality start where he allowed just three runs on eight hits in seven innings against UH Hilo. His 4.84 ERA (31 earned runs in 57.2 innings) is second on the squad, though he has posted the lowest WHIP of those who qualify at 1.18. Just behind him with a 3-3 mark is fellow junior right-hander Koh Maeda, logging the third-best ERA at 4.94 (26 earned runs in 47.1 innings) which is paired with a 1.63 WHIP. Leading the way in ERA is graduate student righty Cannon Secrist at 3.73 (17 earned runs in 41.0 innings), recording a 2-4 record to go with his one save and a 1.51 WHIP. It's a tight race for the strikeout lead, with Quesada's and sophomore lefty Brian Kraft tied with 42 apiece while Secrist (38) remains in shouting distance. With his recent performances, Kraft has brought his ERA to 7.32 (32 earned runs in 39.1 innings) and WHIP to 2.08. Excelling out the bullpen this season has been junior right-hander Fernando Dueñas, who holds a 5.50 ERA (21 earned runs in 34.1 innings pitched) to go with his 2-5 record and team-high five saves (second-most in a single ART U season). 

HERE KITTY KITTY
Ranked as the No. 5 team in the NCAA DII West Region and receiving votes to be nationally ranked by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) is Azusa Pacific, as the Cougars enter the series with the Knights as the No. 3 team in the PacWest standings and would currently hold a spot the PacWest Tournament if the season were to end today. Sitting at 27-17 on the season, APU has won six of their past seven games which includes a trio of victories over each Biola and Concordia, though two of those six wins came in non-conference action against the Golden Eagles. Overall the Cougars are hitting .276 (390-for-1415) on the season with a total of 128 extra-base hits, 46 of which have been home runs. Individually there is just one Cougar hitting above .300 in Omar Lopez at .306 (49-for-160), though APU prides itself on their depth as all hitters that qualify are batting .250 or above. Not only does Lopez hit for average, he leads the team in RBI (43), home runs (11), and doubles (14) while posting the third-most runs scored (32). From the mound, both Isaac Mendez (4-4) and Brendan Dixon (4-1) have recorded four wins on the season, though Mendez leads the way in both ERA at 4.18 and WHIP at 1.36. Three Cougars have notched at least one save on the season, bu the five from Jake Vargas leads the way which he pairs with a 3.00 ERA and 1.24 WHIP. Azusa Pacific has captured each of the last 15 meetings between the Cougars and Urban Knights, and they lead the all-time series 32-2. 

ART U HONORS SENIORS, BUT SHARKS CAPTURE DOUBLEHEADER
Academy of Art baseball honored three Urban Knights for Senior Day prior to their doubleheader against Hawaii Pacific on Tuesday, but despite combining for another 19 hits across the pair of games after 21 hits yersterday, HPU was able to snatch both parts of the twin bill for a Pacific West Conference series sweep. 

ON THIS DAY
On April 20, 2019, Zak May made history as he reached the ART U single season RBI top 10 on a day where he went 3-for-5 with a pair of homers and five RBI, both of which tied ART U single game records. However, despite Academy of Art's 11 runs and season-high tying 18 hits, Azusa Pacific stole the Senior Day showdown by a 13-11 final ... On April 21, 2013, the Urban Knights split a non-conference doubleheader against Stanislaus State (formerly Cal State Stanislaus) after ART U came from behind to force extra innings where junior Ryan Ramirez hit a walk-off double in the ninth for a 6-5 win in the shortened second game ...  On April 22, 2018, Academy of Art broke its previous record for wins in a season when they swept a doubleheader against UH Hilo with a pair of one-run victories with finals of 8-7 and 2-1 (seven innings), giving them their 20th and 21st wins of the season. The Urban Knights would go on to finish with a program-best record of 24-25 while going 19-21 in PacWest play. 

LOOKING AHEAD
The ART U season-ending road trip continues against Point Loma with a pair of doubleheaders on Apr. 28-29, leaving the Knights just the solo season finale against Holy Names at College of Alameda on May 2.