ALAMEDA, Calif. – The FPU baseball team took both ends of a doubleheader from Academy of Art on Saturday, picking up an 11-10 victory in the opener before taking the nightcap by a final of 14-6. The Sunbirds have now won four of their last five games and are now alone in first place in the PacWest Conference's NorCal pod for the first time this season.  
 
HOW IT HAPPENED:

• The Urban Knights scratched across two runs in the opening frame, but hits from Jared Aguilar and Michael Warkentin in the second tied the game at 2-2. 
• ART U went back to work a three-run third before breaking it open to the tune of a 9-2 lead two innings later. 
• The Blue and Orange saw the offense come alive in the top of the sixth, combining a trio of hits with an ART U error to score five runs and get back in the game. 
• Andrue Lackey picked up a clutch double down the left field line just before Peanuts and Cracker Jacks Time, putting FPU in front for the first time with a 10-9 lead. 
• Matt McGrady lifted the first pitch he saw over the wall in right center in the top of the 11th, and Brady Crow was able to finish it off in the bottom half. 
• With a 2-1 series lead heading into the series finale, the Sunbirds wasted no time to get the offense going, striking for six runs and forcing a pitching change before Academy of Art had a chance to swing the bats.  
• A wild pitch gave the Urban Knights a run back in the home half, but FPU went right back to work with a seven-run onslaught in the second inning. 
• ART U scored its' third run of the day on a fielder's choice in the third inning, but an RBI groundout from Lackey in the fifth again made it a 12-run FPU lead. 
• Academy of Art made some noise with a four-run bottom of the seventh, but the damage had been done, and the Blue and Orange came away with their second straight series victory. 

 
STATS FROM THE DAY:

• Nine different Sunbirds picked up a base hit in Saturday's opener, highlighted by a four-hit performance from Aguilar and a three-RBI game from Warkentin. 
• McGrady and Aguilar combined to go 7-for-11 with three RBI and seven runs to anchor the heart of the Sunbird order in the opener. 
• Reliever Ethan Wenter picked up a key out to close out the eighth inning on the mound, while Crow went the final three innings without surrendering a hit to earn his first win of the year. 
• Aguilar again proved to be the heartbeat of the Sunbird order in the nightcap, going 3-for-5 at the dish with three RBI. 
• Garrett Cooper picked up the win on the mound, allowing just one earned run over six innings.

 
BEYOND THE BOX SCORE:

• Lackey has now reached base in a team-high 14 straight games, while Aguilar and McGrady join Warkentin and Nick Dodd as Sunbirds with a four-hit game this season.
• FPU has now scored north of 10 runs in game on seven occasions this spring, and they rank second in the league in total runs. 

 
UP NEXT:

• The Sunbirds are off until April 29, when they open a four-game series with Holy Names at FPU Diamond with a doubleheader. The Sunbirds can clinch the NorCal Pod Championship with a series victory and are 5-3 against the Hawks this season.  

 
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