HILO, Hawaii — Pitching was the name of the game Wednesday as both the Academy of Art University baseball team and the University of Hawaii at Hilo served up complete game performances to split a Pacific West Conference doubleheader, 4-2 and 3-0, at Francis Wong Stadium.
 
Senior starting pitcher Nate Gercken (6-7) threw his seventh complete game of the season in the opener and earned the victory for ART U (8-36, 5-25 PacWest) in what was the final start of his Academy of Art career. Hawaii-Hilo (9-36, 5-25 PacWest) got a complete game shutout from starter Jordan Kurokawa (3-4) in the nightcap.
 
GAME ONE
 
The Urban Knights tied a season high with 12 hits in game one. Four players had multi-hit games for ART U, led by senior designated hitter Maclane Brady who went 3-for-4 with a run scored.  Senior first baseman Daniel Skinner went 2-for-4 with two RBIs and junior shortstop Tyler Strawn went 2-for-4 with a run scored. Sophomore right fielder Daniel Gutierrez extended his hitting streak to six games with a 2-for-4 showing.
 
The Urban Knights struck first with some small ball in the third inning. Junior second baseman Cody Edmunds hit a one-out single, then moved to second on a sac bunt before reaching third base on an infield single by junior center fielder Joseph Marchini. Marchini then took off for second base in an attempt to steal, drawing a throw from Hawaii-Hilo catcher Sean Nearhoof. That allowed Edmunds to dash home and score the game's first run to give ART U a 1-0 lead.
 
The Vulcans would answer in the bottom half, scoring the tying run on a two-out RBI single from Samuel Kim. The tie didn't last for long, as leadoff singles by Strawn and Brady in the top of the fourth followed by a sacrifice bunt set the stage for Skinner. Skinner would single with two outs and bring in two runs to put ART U up 3-1.
 
Gercken struck out eight and gave up two runs on seven scattered hits in the 13th complete game of his career. David Moody also went the distance for UHH in the loss, surrendering four runs (three earned) while striking out five.
 
GAME TWO
 
Hawaii-Hilo broke a 0-0 tie in the bottom of the third with two runs from an RBI single and an ART U throwing error to take a 2-0 lead. It would tack on another run in the next inning on an RBI single from Michael Jenkerson. Jenkerson finished the game 3-for-3, one of eight Vulcans starters who had a hit in the nightcap.
 
Kurokawa recorded 10 strikeouts in the complete game shutout. He also walked five and gave up four hits. The Urban Knights had two runners on base in the fifth, sixth and eighth innings but could not push any runs across.
 
Marchini went 2-for-4 in game two to lead the Urban Knights. Freshman reliever Kevin Herron threw his longest outing of the season without giving up any runs, throwing 3 2/3 shutout innings with a strikeout. He also had four assists as Hawaii-Hilo laid down the bunt multiple times.
 
The series concludes with a doubleheader starting at 4 p.m. HST Thursday.