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LUBBOCK, Tex.—The Dons threatened on multiple occasions throughout the afternoon but was unable to capitalize enough times as they were swept in their doubleheader against No. 12/5 Texas Tech 15-6 and 13-5 on Saturday.
 
"We didn't execute like we wanted to," San Francisco head coach Nino Giarratano said. "I think offensively we're right where we want to be. We've got some guys going in the right direction… but this is not going to dictate who we are. Hopefully we figure it out, bounce back and do what we're capable of."
 
USF has scored 18 runs through the first three games of the season and this has Giarratano optimistic about the lineup moving forward.
 
"We've had a lot of really good at bats today. We've been pretty good and executing our running game" Giarratano said. "I'm really pleased with what the lineup has done."
 
Where the team has struggled was been on the mound and allowed 28 runs, including 13 from the starting pitchers, on Saturday.
 
"We just need to stop walking guys, hitting guys," Giarratano said. "We're not prepared yet on the mound. We've just got to get better."
 
The Dons will be back in action tomorrow at 10 a.m. with Christian Cecilio on the mound.
 
GAME 1 | Texas Tech 15 – San Francisco 6
 
The Dons got on the board first. With runners at first and second and no outs in the second inning, Jack Hall laid down a sacrifice bunt that moved the runners over and set up second and third for Zack McCoy. The senior transfer hit a sacrifice fly to right that scored Brendan Hendriks to give the Dons a 1-0 lead.
 
Much like on Friday, Texas Tech responded to the run with one of their own. Red Raiders first baseman Eric Gutierrez led off the second with a double and, after a wild pitch moved him to third, scored on an RBI single by Hunter Hargrove to make it a 1-1 game.
 
The San Francisco offense continued to roll in the third. With one on and one out, Derek Atkinson doubled down the rightfield line to give the Dons runners at second and third. After a Hendriks walk to load the bases, Justin McCullough flied out to right to score Nico Giarratano and put USF up 2-1.
 
Hall continued his productivity at the plate and ripped a single through the left side to score Hendriks. McCoy followed with his second RBI of the day with a single to left, giving the Dons a 4-1 lead.
 
"He's been aggressive, doing his thing," Giarratano said of Hall. "He's just being competitive."
 
The Dons had a chance to blow the game wide open in the fourth. With one out, Matt Sinatro was hit by a pitch, Giarratano and Atkinson walked to load the bases. But Hendriks grounded into the 1-2-3 double play to end the inning.  
 
"We just didn't execute like we wanted to," Giarratano said. "We had the bases loaded with the right guy up there."
 
The missed opportunities hurt in the bottom half of the inning as Texas Tech scored five times with the big hits being a two-RBI double from Williams Hairston and a two-run home run from Michael Davis to take a 6-4 lead.
 
Hendriks drove one in on a fielder's choice in the six to cut the Texas Tech lead to one but the Red Raiders scored two of their own in the bottom half of the inning on a two-RBI single by Stephen Smith, giving Texas Tech an 8-5 lead.
 
Texas Tech blew the game wide open with a seven-run eighth inning to give them a 15-5 lead.
 
GAME 2 | Texas Tech 13 – San Francisco 5
 
Sheldon Lee, who had a 3.83 ERA last season, got the start in the second game of the doubleheader for the Dons but he surrendered five walks and two hits in the first inning as Texas Tech took a commanding 7-0 lead after the first.
 
"It was a rough day for Sheldon," said Giarratano. "He's much better than that. He tried too hard to be perfect."
 
USF got on the board in the third on back-to-back RBI singles from Sinatro and Nico Giarratano to make it an 8-2 game. San Francisco closed the gap again in the seventh inning when Ryan Matranga doubled down the leftfield line to plate Hall and Dominic Miroglio to make it a 9-4 game.
 
USF chipped away at the lead and kept the game within reach behind Matt Narahara, who went five solid innings with two earned runs.
 
Miroglio came through with an RBI of his own in the eighth, which brought home McCoy, and made it a 10-5 Texas Tech lead.