DALLAS, Tex.—The Dons had the series opener at No. 15 Dallas Baptist pushed forwards to avoid the incoming thunderstorms, a late scratch to the rotation, and were unable to capitalize on some early opportunities as they dropped the contest 8-0 on Friday afternoon.
"We weren't sharp today," San Francisco head coach
Nino Giarratano said. "We didn't play good defense. We didn't throw enough quality strikes. When we don't pitch and we don't play defense, it makes it hard on us."
San Francisco (23-26) is slated to play the second game of the series tomorrow at 12 p.m. but thunderstorms are in the forecast for the remainder of the weekend. Check in at USFDons.com for updates.
With a runner on and two down in the first,
Derek Atkinson and
Dominic Miroglio reached base on infield singles to load the bases for
Justin McCullough and he hit a ball to the left of the shortstop but a throw to second got the runner to end the inning.
Dons right hander
Anthony Shew was a late scratch and
Sheldon Lee made the start for USF. Dallas Baptist took advantage of the pitching change in the second.
With runners at the corners and no outs, Chane Lynch singled just in front of
Derek Atkinson in center to bring home one and give the Patriots a 1-0 lead. Dallas Baptist loaded the bases on a walk and got a two-out two-RBI single from Nash Knight to go ahead by three.
The Patriots added on another run and took a 4-0 lead after the second. Dallas Baptist would add runs in the third, fifth, and sixth innings to take an eight-run lead.
"We make four or five mistakes in one inning and we gave up four," Giarratano said. "That's all a team like this needs."
Lee went five innings and gave up six runs, five earned, on 10 hits.
San Francisco tried to answer in the third and got a one-out single from
Nico Giarratano but a double play groundball ended the frame. The Dons had one base runner aboard in each inning between the second and eighth but were unable to break onto the scoreboard.
Dallas Baptist starter Joseph Shaw went six shutout innings and allowed seven hits.
"We need to get tougher and we need to get better," Giarratano said. "Without those two components we're going to beat. We need to get back to playing a good, solid baseball game. We're going to keep on plugging. It's just another set of adversity for us."
Nico Giarratano went 2-for-3 and reached base three times on the afternoon.
Connor Hofmann also picked up a pair of hits and went 2-for-4.
