AZUSA, Calif. – Both parts of Friday's twin bill between Academy of Art baseball and Azusa Pacific were a battle, and though it seemed ART U was going to enact revenge for a 9-3 loss (seven innings) in the first half of day, APU spoiled a seven-run inning for the Knights in game two by pouring in eight unanswered runs to walk off winners during extra innings by a 9-8 final (eight innings). 

"The results haven't been what we wanted, and two walk-off losses can be crushing, but at the same time we are so proud of the way these guys are playing their tails off," said ART U Head Coach Dan McDermott. "Tony Diaz, Hayato Niki, Gabe Henderson, Travis Turney and Landon Levine are having numerous and consistent quality at-bats that keep us in every game. Cannon Secrist pitched a great game yesterday and Dwyer Lewis was outstanding in a relief appearance today."

Both games were level in the early goings before one side was able to build a lead, with the Cougars (30-17, 21-10 PacWest) doing so first with a trio of multi-run innings in their six-run win during game one. Not even a home run from sophomore shortstop Emil Jellinek in the top of the sixth could swing the momentum for the Urban Knights (14-27, 7-20 PacWest), as APU put up three in response leading to their six-run margin of victory. Meanwhile, Academy of Art returned the favor when they exploded for seven runs on six hits during the top of the third in game two, but Azusa Pacific slowly built their comeback which ended in extra innings when APU capped off their eight unanswered runs when they tallied the final run of the game on a fielding error with the bases loaded in the bottom of the eighth.

Coming up big at the plate in both games was graduate student outfielder Landon Levine, who was a combined 4-for-8 with three runs scored and two driven in while recording a pair of multi-hit games to give him 12 on the season. That day helped him to a couple pieces of ART U history, as his two RBI has helped him become just the fourth Urban Knight to produce a 30+ RBI season, joining the group of alumni Zak May (2019), current ART U assistant coach Elijah Smith (2019), and Ty Conrad (2021).

With 31 RBI on the season, Levine has jumped past Smith into sole possession of third place and is now only two RBI short of Conrad (33) for second place. May holds the ART U standard with 35 RBI in a season. Meanwhile, Levine's three runs scored pushed his total to 30 for the season, making him just the second player in ART U history to drive in and score 30 or more runs during a single season in program history (also: Conrad, 2021). 

GAME ONE – APU 9, ART U 3 (7 INNINGS)
Azusa Pacific struck first during its initial turn at the dish, pushing across a run when a leadoff single advanced to third on groundout and wild pitch, then scoring on yet another ground ball induced by ART U junior righty Devan Quesada. It did not take long for the Knights to counter, as Levine started the top of the second with a single to center and then showed his wheels by scoring from first on a double into the right-center gap by redshirt sophomore first baseman Patrick Morgan. 

Scoring continued in the home half of the second when ART U was bitten by yet another leadoff single moving around to third on a pair of groundouts, with Brett Soria coming up clutch for Azusa Pacific by lining a two-out RBI single to right. Once again Academy of Art leveled the game in the next half inning, building a two-out rally that consisted of a triple into right center by freshman catcher Gabe Henderson and an RBI single into right from graduate student outfielder Travis Turney. The Knights had a chance for once more as Levine generated a base knock of his own, but Turney was trying to score and retired in a rundown. 

Prior to the third, Quesada would make an untimely exit from the game before the Cougars put runs on the board for the third time in as many innings. This time they took the ART U recipe as APU had a two-out rally of their own when they capitalized on a walk by immediately hammering a two-run homer from Will Stroud, making the score 4-2. 

Only once in the contest was Azusa Pacific was retired in order, going down quickly during the fourth but then resuming their scoring ways in the fifth when a pair of walks preceded a two-out, two-RBI triple from Casey O'Laughlin. Then came the sixth where Jellinek crushed his team-leading fifth homer of the season, setting a new career mark for homers in a season and tying the fourth-most in an ART U season. However, it was no match for the three-spot that APU tallied in the bottom of the inning that was comprised of an RBI single and two-run homer from Spencer Rasumussen, his third of the series.

Going just long enough to earn the win for the Cougars was Brendan Dixon, moving his record to 5-1 after he tossed 4.0 innings and allowed just two earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts and one free pass. Taking the loss for Academy of Art was sophomore righty Cole Shafer, dropping his record to 0-2 on the year. 

Eight ART U hits were spread among six Urban Knights, though senior outfielder Hayato NIki was 2-for-4 while Levine was 2-for-3 with a run scored. Jellinek finished with just the home run as he was 1-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI, and Henderson closed 1-for-4 with a triple and run scored. Meanwhile, the duo of Turney and Morgan were each 1-for-3 with a run driven in, with Morgan also notching a double. 

GAME TWO – APU 9, ART U 8 (8 INNINGS)
In a bit of déjà vu the Cougars struck in the bottom of the first once again, putting a runner just 90 feet from home on a triple before scoring an unearned run in the next at-bat on a fielding error. Similar to game one, Levine began the second with a base knock, this time reaching third thanks to a triple into the left-center gap. He scored the tying run immediately thanks to an RBI ground out from Morgan.

After the Cougars were retired in order during the home half of the second, Academy of Art broke the game wide open with perhaps their best inning of the series. Three batters in and they had scored two runs, as a leadoff single from sophomore second baseman Larry Fonseca and a double from sophomore designated hitter Tony Diaz put both in scoring position to cross the plate on an RBI base knock from freshman first baseman Michael Wiborn.

A hit by pitch and walk loaded the bases, allowing two more runs to score on a Levine two-RBI single into center, then the line kept moving on a subsequent single into center from Morgan which was able to score Turney. Finally, a double to left center from Jellinek was responsible for scoring the final two runs of the inning to make the game 8-1. 

Breaking the deficit into pieces, APU responded with three runs in the home half of the third before scoring twice more in the fourth, making it just a two-run game at 8-6. Both teams went down in order during the fifth, but it became a new ball game when back-to-back solo homers finally completed the Azusa Pacific comeback to knot the game at 8-8. Action was tense in the seventh as both sides had a pair of runners in scoring position with two outs, but all runners were left on base. 

Moving into extra frames, the Urban Knights were on the verge of regaining the lead as they had loaded the bases with a trio of walks and the right Knight at the plate, but ART U RBI leader Levine smashed a liner that was caught by the right fielder to keep the score locked at 8-8. Escaping the jam swung the momentum just enough for APU to steal a victory, as the Cougars loaded the bases with a hit batter and a pair of singles, finally ending the game when they scored a run on the second ART U error of the contest. It marked the second walk-off win for APU in the series, matching the ending to yesterday's series opener that saw ART U gradaute student righty Cannon Secrist become the new program strikeout leader for a career.

Neither starter factored into the game's decision, and in fact it was the last appearing hurlers that became the pitchers of record. Going the final two innings and holding the ART U bats to zero runs on a single hit was David Hays, collecting his first win of the season. Meanwhile, sophomore right-hander Dwyer Lewis was charged with a tough loss as he yielded just a single unearned run on three hits in 1.2 innings pitched. 

Eight of the nine spots in the Academy of Art lineup recorded a hit, and all were led by the pair of hits from Levine who was 2-for-5 with two runs scored and driven in. Meanwhile, Wiborn, Morgan and Jellinek each had two RBI with their only hits, and the trio of Turney, Henderson and Fonseca all scored a run. 

The series comes to a conclusion with game four tomorrow afternoon, as the Urban Knights battle Azusa Pacific with the first pitch being tossed at noon.