Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

Waipahu, HI -- After a disappointing trip to Hilo, the Academy of Art University baseball team went to a new island and started off strong, taking one of two against Hawaii Pacific University. Aaron Garabedian shut the Sea Warriors down in the opener as the Knights won 4-2, while Nate Gercken ran into some tough luck in the nightcap as Knights fell 6-1. Lyle "Kalani" Brackenridge had three more hits in his return to his home state.

The Knights got on the board in the third inning of the first game, when freshman Joey Marchini led off with a single through the right side. He came in to score when senior Stefen Henderson hit a triple down the right field line. ART U had a chance at more, but a hard hit ball from Ryan Ramirez ended in a double play with Henderson getting doubled off at third.

Hawaii Pacific added a run in the third when Lanan Rice-Kashima doubled, advanced on a fielder's choice, and scored on a squeeze play. That was the only run Garabedian would allow for a while, and on the other side of the ball the Knights retook the lead in the fifth. Marchini started it off again, this time with an infield single. After a single from Tino Leite and a walk from Henderson, Brackenridge hit a sacrifice fly before Myles Babitt and James Singzon each singled, making it a 4-1 ballgame.

That was all the support Garabedian would need, as he cruised through the fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth, only allowing two baserunners over that span. The junior took the mound in the bottom of the ninth, but after a leadoff single, head coach Brian Guinn went to his closer in the bullpen, Ryan Donahoe.

Donahoe was immediately in hot water, as Marvin Campbell went to second on a passed ball. Jace Poole grounded out, and then Kale Sumner reached on an error, which allowed the run to score and made it a 4-2 ballgame. 

But Donahoe held on, inducing a game-ending groundball that Ramirez handled cleanly at first to secure Donahoe's second save of the year and Garabedian's first win of the year and his career. He would go 8.0+ innings, scattering five hits, only walking two, and giving up two runs (only one earned). Joshua Garcia (4-3) took the loss for UH Hilo, as Marchini and Brackenridge each had a pair of hits for the Knights. 

The Knights were not so lucky in the second game, as Nate Gercken fell victim to mistakes behind him. HPU got on the board quickly with an unearned run in the first after Derek Nakasato reached on an error by Tino Leite at shorttop, later scoring on a single by Marvin Campbell. The same happened in the second, when an error by Ramirez at first led to an unearned run scoring again, making it 2-0.

Meanwhile, the Knights didn't get their first hit until the fifth inning, but were unable to get anything going off of starter Nick Woodward (4-1). In the bottom of that inning, HPU got another run on a throwing error by Henderson in right field, which led to a double to left center by Kale Sumner and a single by Russell Doi that put the Sea Warriors up 6-0.

ART U was able to salvage one run off of Jeremy Fujimoto in the seventh, when Myles Babitt doubled to lead off. James Singzon singled up the middle, and then Dante Redhead hit a sacrifice fly to center to get the Knights on the board, but they would have to settle for just the one run.

Singzon was 2-for-2 on the game, while Babitt, Jeremy Williams, and Brackenridge all had hits. Brackenridge continued to raise his average, now almost 200 points higher than it was at its lowest point back on March 4. Gercken went five innings and allowed six runs, four earned. He struck out three and walked three but fell to 1-6 on the year. The series concludes with a doubleheader on Wednesday, with games starting at 7PM Pacific Time.