University of San Francisco Athletics

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Games No. 5-7
Opponent: No. 2 Cal State Fullerton (2-2)
Dates: Feb. 21 (7 p.m.), 22 (6 p.m.), 23 (1 p.m.)
Location: Riverside Sports Complex

2014 STATISTICS
2014 SCHEDULE
2014 ROSTER

GAME NOTES - NO. 2 CAL STATE FULLERTON

SAN FRANCISCO—There are wins and then there are wins. This series is potentially the latter for the Diamond Dons.
 
USF made it a point to challenge itself in the preseason in 2014 and No. 2 Cal State Fullerton is the crown jewel of that preseason slate. The Titans are always in the conversation of teams that could potentially win a national title and this year is no different.
 
To hang around with Fullerton, the Dons are going to have to step up their performance on the mound. USF enters the series with a 6.35 ERA through four games and have not had a starting pitcher go farther than five innings.
 
Abe Bobb (0-1, 9.00 ERA) battled through five innings allowing five runs on eight hits and struck out seven. Bobb was one of the better pitchers down the stretch for the Dons in 2013 and went 4-1 in conference play.
 
Christian Cecilio (1-0, 1.69) is slated to make his start of the season on Saturday. He came out of the bullpen in the second inning of Saturday's game against UC Riverside and went 5.1 innings allowing one run on five hits to pick up the win.
 
WALK IT OUT
The Dons trailed by two going into the ninth against Kansas State on Tuesday afternoon and scored three times off of the 2013 Big 12 Freshman of the Year Jake Matthys to take the 7-6 victory. Derek Atkinson had the walk-off hit but it was set up by four singles and a critical error in leftfield. Harrison Bruce, Matt Sinatro, Nico Giarratano and Zack Turner all had hits in the inning.
 
STAY HOT
Atkinson had not cooled off from his series against UC Riverside. He went 2-for-5 on Tuesday and picked up two more RBI and now has a team-best six on the season. He is also hitting a team-best .471. Bradley Zimmer (.412 BA) also continued to make an impact by getting his third double of the season and making a momentum-swinging catch in deep left centerfield to keep the Dons in striking distance of Kansas State.
 
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN
Bradley Zimmer was named to three All-America first teams in the preseason, including the Louisville Slugger and Baseball America teams. The junior hit .320 with seven home runs and 37 RBI last season and went onto play for the USA National Collegiate Team and Cotuit Keetleers of the Cape Cod League over the summer.
 
GIARRATANO LEGACY
Head coach Nino Giarratano enters his 16th season at the helm of the USF baseball team and is the winningest coach in the program's history with 434. He is also the third winningest coach in WCC history, behind John Cunningham (USD, 524) and current San Diego coach Rich Hill (657). With the win over Kansas State on Tuesday, Giarratano passed Santa Clara's John Oldman for third on that list (433).
 
ABOUT NO. 2 CAL STATE FULLERTON
Cal State Fullerton is one of the top programs in the country and has been so far a long time. This could be the chance for the Dons to make an impression of their own. The Titans have scuffled in the early going but remain loaded with talent. They carry two preseason All-American first teamers in Justin Garza and Thomas Eshelman, both right-handed starters. Eshelman threw seven shutout innings in their 12-0 win over Washington State. Garza lasted 5.2 while giving up seven runs (four earned).