SAN FRANCISCO – Despite pounding out 11 hits with three players with two hits apiece in Joseph Chedid, Will Hein and Chad Thurston, the SF State Gators lost 8-4 in a non-conference game to the visiting Academy of Art Urban Knights this afternoon at The Swamp at Maloney Field.  Joseph Marchini was 4-for-6 with two runs batted in to lead the way for the visitors. 

The Urban Knights took a 4-0 lead in the top of the second inning.  Tyler Strawn had a lead-off double and went to third when Maclane Brady reached on a fielder's choice.  Strawn scored on a Chucky Cavestany single up the middle to start the scoring for the Urban Knights.  Marchini two-out two-run double capped the four-run inning for Academy of Art.

SF State (14-21) cut the Urban Knight lead in half with a two-run inning of its own in the bottom of the second.  Dalton Pizzuti had a one-out single, went to second on balk.  He advanced to third on Connor Fraser's single through the right side.  Fraser advanced to second on a wild pitch.  Still with one out, Danny Souza drove in Pizzuti with a single through the right side.  Then with the count 2-2, Chedid singled home Fraser to cut the deficit to 4-2.  Hein reached on an error, but the Urban Knights' Nate Gercken (5-6) induced the next Gator to ground out to an inning ending double play.

Academy of Art added an insurance run in the fourth when Cody Edmunds scored on a double play after leading off the inning with an infield single to increase its lead to 5-2. 

The Gators looked like they were going to cut into the Urban Knight lead in the fifth inning.  Hein had a one-out single, went to second when Nick Jackson walked.  Andrew Breen had an infield single to load the bases, but Gercken induced another inning ending double play to preserve the 5-2 Urban Knight lead. SF State cut the Urban Knight lead to 5-4 with a two-run sixth inning.  Thurston had a lead-off single, went to second on a balk.  Then with two outs, Souza and Chedid walked to load the bases.  With the count 2-1, Hein hit a single down the left field line to bring in Thurston and Souza and cut the Gator deficit to 5-4.  Reliever Alex Kuisel induced the final out on a fly out to center.

Academy of Art added an insurance run in the seventh and added two more in the eighth to take an 8-4 lead.  Kuisel allowed no runs and two hits in the final three innings for his first save of the season.  He finished the day, pitching four innings of four hit ball, giving up two runs, striking out two and walking two.  Gercken recorded his fifth win, by pitching five innings, giving up 7 hits and two runs, striking out two and walking two.

Ryan Romero (2-1) picked up the loss in the start, pitching five innings, giving up 9 hits and five runs, walking one and striking out one.  Grant Vogenthaler pitched two innings of relief, giving up two hits and one run, striking out two and walking three.  Shane Martin pitched 0.2 relief innings, giving up two runs and walking three.  Matthew Hernandez pitched the final 1.1 innings, giving up one hit and walking one.
Hein drove in two of the Gators' four runs to go along with his two hits.

SF State will continue its six-game home stand this Friday, April 17^th at 3pm as the Gators begin a four-game conference series with Chico State at The Swamp at Maloney Field.  The two teams will play a single nine-inning game on Friday.  They then will play a noon starting doubleheader on Saturday.  The series will conclude this Sunday, April 19 for a single nine-inning game beginning at 11am. 

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Gator Athletics has a proud tradition of competitive success within the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The department offers 12 intercollegiate sports programs: Baseball, Men's and Women's Basketball, Men's and Women's Cross Country, Men's and Women's Soccer, Softball, Women's Track & Field, Women's Volleyball and Men's Wrestling.

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