SAN FRANCISCO — The hits just kept coming Tuesday for the Academy of Art University baseball team as the Urban Knights pounded out 12 hits and scored in four different innings to beat San Francisco State 8-4 at Maloney Field.
 
Junior center fielder Joseph Marchini led the Urban Knights (7-31) with a 4-for-6 day, a stolen base and two RBIs. He was one of three ART U players who had multiple hits in the game. Five different Knights drove in runs and seven had at least one hit. Academy of Art was able to answer each time San Francisco State (14-20) scored in an effort to catch up from ART U's initial 4-0 lead it staked itself to in the second inning.
 
Senior starting pitcher Nate Gercken (5-6) earned the victory in five innings pitched, surrendering just two runs while scattering seven hits with two strikeouts. Sophomore reliever Alexander Kuisel threw four innings of effective relief to earn the save. SFSU used four pitchers, including starter Ryan Romero (2-1) who gave up five runs on nine hits in five innings pitched.
 
Marchini drove in his two runs with his seventh double of the season in the second inning, which made ART U's lead 4-0. The Gators cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning with two answering runs, but ART U went back up 5-2 in the fourth after getting three leadoff singles to load the bases.
 
San Francisco State pulled close again in the sixth on a two-RBI single by Will Hein, making it 5-4. But free passes did the Gators in during the late innings. A hit-by-pitch and two walks in the seventh – the last with the bases loaded – made it 6-4. Then in the eighth, three walks loaded the bases for ART U, followed by a hit-by-pitch and another walk to bring in two runs and make it 8-4. SFSU totaled eight walks and two hit-by-pitches in the game.
 
Junior shortstop Tyler Strawn was 2-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored. Junior second baseman Cody Edmunds went 2-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored.
 
Academy of Art takes its bye week this weekend before heading to Hawaii for its final two Pacific West Conference series beginning April 25.