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NEW ORLEANS, La.—Junior right hander Anthony Shew had an amazing outing on Friday night by going eight shutout innings but the Dons were unable to capitalize on the performance as Tulane scored in the ninth to take the game 1-0.
 
"He was capable of executing his pitches tonight," San Francisco head coach Nino Giarratano said. "The slider was a good pitch against right handers. He threw strikes tonight, cruised, and gave us an opportunity to win.
 
"It was a tough game and that's how we want to play."
 
That opportunity slipped away in the ninth when, with two outs, Anthony Buonopane walked two straight batters to load the bases. Logan West came in to shut the door and send it to extra innings but he was unable to find the strike zone and walked Tyler Wilson to give Tulane the win.
 
"We had two outs and we walked three straight," Giarratano said. "We just didn't give ourselves a chance.
 
"The crowd was excited. He just started to try to guide it in there. [The bullpen is] going to have to learn to trust themselves but we're not pitching like that, we're not playing like that."
 
The Dons will return to action on Saturday when Christian Cecilio takes the hill against Tulane at 2 p.m. PT.
 
With two down in the third inning, the Dons mounted a rally. Matt Sinatro and Connor Hofmann each singled before a Nico Giarratano walk and set up bases loaded for Derek Atkinson. The senior centerfielder was unable to come through as he was caught looking to end the inning.
 
In the fourth, San Francisco looked to have something going when Brendan Hendriks walked but was thrown out trying to steal second. Dominic Miroglio followed it with a hit but he, too, was gunned down at second.
 
Giarratano said, "We had a chance to knock the starter out in the fourth inning and we didn't execute like we wanted to."
 
All the while, Shew powered through the Tulane lineup and at one point retired 10 straight batters. He did not surrender his first hit until the seventh inning on a single from Hunter Hope.
 
Tulane also had their first scoring opportunity in the seventh when Stephen Alemais stole second and gave the Green Wave its first runner in scoring position. But Shew ended the threat quickly as he got Jake Rogers to pop up to second to end the frame.
 
Shew went eight shutout innings and allowed two hits on 106 pitches.
 
The Dons had an opportunity in the eighth to go ahead when with two on and two down, Giarratano came to the plate and lined one to center but a diving catch by Gary Brown ended the threat.
 
"We had opportunities but they took them away," Giarratano said. "It was one of those nights where we couldn't get anything to fall."
 
Tulane starter Corey Merrill was nearly as sharp as Shew, going seven shutout innings on five hits.
 
NOTES
Connor Hofman played in his first game of the season on Friday and picked up two hits… Shew's eight shutout innings was the longest outing of at least eight blank frames by a Don since Sheldon Lee threw a complete game shutout at Portland on Apr. 26, 2014… Dominic Miroglio threw out his fourth runner of the season and has caught 80 percent of base stealers… Derek Atkinson had a six-game hit streak snapped on Friday but with his walk has now reached base in 23 of his last 24 games dating back to last season.