OAKLAND, Calif. – The Fresno Pacific University baseball team dropped the final game of a four-game series against Academy of Art 8-6 on Saturday afternoon, walking away with a series split. 
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• ARTU got on the board early, going up 3-0 in the first inning. 
• FPU answered in the second inning when Donte Valdez doubled down the left-field line to open the rally. 
• Kyle Willman drove D. Valdez home with a single through the left side. 
• Tommy Rover followed with a double into the left-field corner, scoring Willman from first to cut the ARTU lead to just one.
• Khalid Johnson smashed a single through the left side of the infield, scoring Rover to tie the game 3-3. 
• The Urban Knights scored two runs in the second and added two more in the fourth to go up 7-3.
• In the fifth inning, Andrew Valdez ripped a triple into the right-field corner and was driven in by a fielding error off the bat of Andrue Lackey.  
• FPU trailed 8-4 in the sixth when Willman reached on an infield single. 
• Johnson smashed his fifth home run of the season, plating Willman and himself while bringing the Sunbirds to within two runs. 
• That's as close as they'd get, as the Urban Knights would hang on to take the game 8-6. 

STATS FROM THE GAME

• Johnson went 2-for-5 with three runs batted in while hitting his 22nd extra-base hit of the season on Saturday.
• A. Valdez, D. Valdez, Lackey, and Willman all checked in with two hits each. 
• Brady Crow twirled 3.1 innings in relief of Jared Aguilar, while Michael Barker pitched the final three innings of the game and kept the Urban Knights scoreless. 

 UP NEXT

• After taking their finals next week, the Sunbirds return to host #4 Point Loma on May 10 and 11 in a four-game series. Both doubleheaders start at 2 p.m. 

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