ALAMEDA, Calif. – Academy of Art baseball received two stellar starting pitching performances during a Pacific West Conference doubleheader sweep over Fresno Pacific on Thursday, dominating FPU in game one 11-4 before winning a pitching duel in game two, 4-1. The doubleheader sweep marks four consecutive victories for ART U, and six of their last seven overall. 

Only five runs were scored by the Sunbirds (7-11, 3-7 PacWest) on the day thanks to the pitching efforts for the Urban Knights (8-2, 8-2 PacWest), as graduate student Matthew Sanchez and senior Jayson Summers both worked deep into their starting outings and combined for 16 strikeouts on the day. Meanwhile, the offense would come to life late in both contests, with junior first baseman Vincent Lontz leading the charge going a combined 4-for-7 with two runs batted in and a double. Also chipping in at the plate was junior designated hitter Noah Daubin, going 3-for-7 with three runs scored, three RBI, a home run and two doubles, while graduate student second baseman Justin Summers was 3-for-6 with three runs scored. 

GAME ONE – ART U 11, FPU 4
The first three innings went by in a breeze, with neither offense getting much going early on. It wasn't until the fourth that ART U struck for a pair of runs, as Daubin would double down the left-field line before a Justin Summers would set the table for Lontz. He would deliver with a liner through the right side to score Daubin and put the Knights on top. Two batters later, sophomore third baseman Adam Inouye would bring home Summers with a single through the middle, but Lontz was thrown out at third trying to take an extra base which ended the inning.

ART U righty Sanchez was dazzling early on, not allowing a hit until the top of the fifth on an Isaac Gonzalez double on a blooper that landed in no-man's land in extremely shallow center field. Two batters later, Fresno Pacific would plate their first run of the game thanks to an RBI single into left from Andrue Lackey, scoring Gonzalez. While a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the sixth by graduate student catcher Ryan Gamboa would temporarily make it a two-run game again, the Sunbirds immediately got the run back in the top half of the seventh thanks to a leadoff home run by Gonzalez to straight-away right field. 

It was then that ART U would find their time to strike, pounding out six hits leading to eight runs. A run would score on a throwing error to start the inning, while Daubin would get the first RBI in the frame on a ball that one-hopped the wall for his second double of the game, scoring junior outfielder Ty Conrad who had reached on a single. Lontz, graduate student outfielder Andrew Shebloski, and redshirt junior shortstop Dominic Ruggiero would all drive in a run thanks to an RBI single, as the Urban Knights would bat all the way around the order. 

Sanchez would run into trouble in the eighth, as FPU would tally a pair of runs leading to Sanchez's exit from the game. All told, Sanchez allowed four runs on six hits with seven strikeouts over 7.2 innings in the winning effort, his second of the year to bump his record to 2-0, giving way to junior right-hander Ryan Skillman to ice the victory. Skillman would allow just one hit over the final 1.1 innings. 

Five different Urban Knights would end up with multi-hit games, with Lontz going 3-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored to lead the charge. The trio of Justin Summers (3), Daubin (2), and Ruggiero (2) all had multiple RBI, with Daubin going 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles.

GAME TWO – ART U 4, FPU 1 (7 INNINGS)
Both squads pushed a run across in the second inning, with the Sunbirds getting theirs on a dropped fly ball in the outfield by ART U. The Urban Knights would respond in the bottom of the frame after Lontz led off with a double, and then scored on a pick-off play when junior catcher Austin LaBarber faked a steal to allow Lontz time to score. 

The pitching duel was fierce, as ART U starter Jayson Summers scattered just three hits across the first six innings. It took until the bottom of the sixth inning for ART U to break the tie game, as Daubin would start the frame with a homer that just tucked inside the right field foul pole on a 1-0 pitch to start the inning. Not done with the scoring, two more runs would come across thanks to an RBI single from Inouye and a double down the right field line from sophomore outfielder Hayato Niki. 

It would be all the room that Summers would need, as even though he did allow two runners on to begin the top of the seventh, he would settle down to get the next three batters in order to finish the game off. Summers would pick up his second win of the campaign in the complete game effort, matching a career-high with nine strikeouts while allowing one unearned run on four hits in 7.0 innings pitched. Seven Urban Knights would find their way one base with a hit, with Daubin launching the important blast in the sixth for his only hit while Justin Summers was 2-for-3 with his fourth double of the season.

This four-game set will conclude with a doubleheader on Saturday in Fresno from the FPU Diamond at 2 and 5:30 p.m.