\GAME #13
AAU Urban Knights (0-13) vs. Cal State Monterey Bay Otters (6-24)
Friday, Mar. 20, 2009 at 2:00 PM
Cal State Monterey Bay, Baseball Complex

GAME #14, 15 (Doubleheader)
AAU Urban Knights (0-13) vs. University of Hawaii – Hilo Vulcans (8-9)
Saturday, Mar. 22, 2009 at 1:00 PM
University of San Francisco, Benedetti Stadium

GAME #16, #17 (Doubleheader)
AAU Urban Knights (0-13) vs. University of Hawaii – Hilo Vulcans (8-9)
Monday, Mar. 23, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Menlo College, Cartan Field

Game Notes

THE WEEK AHEAD:
Academy of Art University Baseball was finally able to take the field for four games against Dixie State in St. George, UT this week and the Urban Knights will now face the Otters of CSU Monterey Bay on Friday, Mar. 20 at 2:00 PM before returning to San Francisco for a four-game swing with PacWest opponent, University of Hawaii – Hilo. The first doubleheader is set for this Sunday, Mar. 22 at 1:00 PM and then Monday, Mar. 23 will see the final two contests of the series. USF's Benedetti Stadium will be the site on Sunday and Menlo College's Cartan Field serves as AAU's home field on Monday.

LOOKING BEYOND:
After these next five contests, Academy of Art University will be playing road games for the rest of its season. The Urban Knights will face the CCAA's Cal State Monterey Bay in a doubleheader to close out of month of March and then matchup with Cal State Stanislaus Baseball for a four-game series in early April.

SCOUTING THE OTTERS:
Cal State Monterey Bay began its season with a win over Cal State East Bay, but the victories have been hard to come by since then. A rough 10-game losing streak took place in mid-February and the Otters have endured other smaller losing stretches throughout. Half of the team's six wins have come against CCAA opponents (Cal Poly Pomona, Sonoma State) and it was UC San Diego as well as Cal State San Bernardino who defeated CSUMB in the first eight games of conference play. Although he as only played in six games, no Otter hitter is hotter than freshman infielder Niko Kanakaris who sports a .365 batting average in 19 at-bats with three RBIs. In terms of regular starters, senior infielder Matt DeJesus has shown his power and speed with two home runs, 13 RBIs and six stolen bases. On the mound, Patrick McClain (0-2) has the lowest ERA of the starting rotation (3.26) despite being winless with a team-high 38 strikeouts.

SCOUTING THE VULCANS:
When the two teams met on Feb. 24 for a doubleheader in Kona, HI, the Knights had a rough 12-2 loss in game one and responded with early offense in the second game, but eventually lost 7-5. Since then, the Vulcans have gone 4-6 in a span where they faced UHH, Dixie State and Grand Canyon. Junior infielder/catcher Peter Rogers has served as the most consistent hitter for the Vulcans with a .393 batting average, 17 RBIs and 25 total bases in the contests to date. Although he currently holds a 1-1 record and 6.00 ERA, sophomore pitcher Kekoa Lee has thrown the most innings (21.0) and leads the team in strikeouts (16).

DIXIE STATE SERIES:
On Monday, the Knights dropped a pair of games to the Red Storm in St. George, UT. Although AAU hit reasonably well in the first contest, the visitors could not push across a run and fell 13-0 before having an even tougher offensive outing in game two which resulted in a 10-0 defeat. Then on Tuesday, the series wrapped up with a 14-5 victory for DXC followed by a 15-1 Red Storm win in the final game. In all four of the games, Dixie State used one big inning to take a comfortable lead over Academy of Art University. Senior catcher Florentino Ubungen had arguably the best series of any Urban Knight with a 4-for-11 performance, a home run, three runs scored and a walk. Freshman utility Alex Rosenthal came on strong in the DXC series with a 3-for-8 performance, two RBIs and one run scored while junior right fielder Mike Gutierrez was 2-for-5 in the series.