SAN JOSE, Calif. – The USF baseball team got enough hitting with runners on base and a strong pitching effort from its bullpen to post a 6-3 victory over San Jose State Tuesday evening at Municipal Stadium.
 
Ryan Matranga (2-for-4, 3 RBI) helped lead the way offensively, while Aaron Ping (3-for-4, 2 R) tallied his first three-hit game of the year and Ross Puskarich (1-for-4, 2 R, RBI) launched his second home run of the season.  
 
"Over the weekend I was letting the pitchers attack me rather than being on the attack," said Matranga. "So I just made a mental note of that and made the adjustments so I was on the attack all day today.
 
"You could feel it on Sunday after that win [at Oregon State] – there was some confidence going around the team. Today out on the field, it just felt different. You could just feel it among the team and hopefully this gets us going a little bit."
 
Brock Larson (1-0) picked up his first win of the year, throwing 1.2 scoreless innings in relief where he allowed one hit while walking one and striking out one.
 
Frank Waliczek earned his first save of the season with a flawless ninth inning where he struck out one.
 
USF starter Benji Post went four innings, allowing two runs on four hits while issuing two walks and striking out two.
 
USF (4-14) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the second when Puskarich and Manny Ramirez, Jr. drew walks to help setup Matranga's two-out RBI single to left center. 
 
Leading off the top of the fourth, Puskarich helped add to the Dons' lead with a towering rainmaker of a home run that scraped the back of the Hebrew National sign in left field.
 
The next batter, Aaron Ping, laced a double into the left-center gap and eventually came around to score when San Jose State pitcher Hilario Tovar balked with runners at first and third and one out, giving the Dons a 3-0 advantage.
 
San Jose State (6-10) bounced right back in their half of the fifth by scoring two runs, one of which came across with a bases-loaded wild pitch by Post, while the other scored on Brendt Citta's RBI fielder's choice to the shortstop.
 
Post got the next hitter, Corey Olivet, to ground into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play to get out of the jam with the 3-2 USF lead intact.
 
It would stay that way until Allen Smoot sliced a double down the left field line to lead off the top of the seventh. Smoot would come across to score two batters later on Brady Bate's sacrifice fly lifted to right field, putting the Dons ahead 4-2.   
 
Matranga came up with another big hit for the Dons when he lined a two-run double into the left field corner in the top of the eighth to give the Dons a 6-2 lead.
 
The Spartans chipped away at their deficit by scoring a run in the bottom half of the eighth when Josh Nashed reached on an error by first baseman Manny Ramirez, Jr. to lead off the inning, before coming around to score on Dillan Smith's RBI single up the middle, which would end up being all the offense SJSU would muster.  
 
"I thought from the six hole on we were great in the lineup tonight," said head coach Nino Giarratano. "Anytime you can get that kind of production from 6-7-8-9 I think you're going to win a lot of games.
 
"I thought the difference tonight was the defense that we're capable of playing. We had a takeaway at third early in the game, we had a couple good plays at shortstop, we had a takeaway in left field; I thought altogether the defense was the key for us tonight."
 
San Jose State starter Graham Gomez (1-1) took the loss, throwing three innings where he allowed a hit, a run with two walks and three strikeouts.
 
David Campbell (2-for-5, 2 R) and Ozzy Braff (2-for-4) led the Spartans at the plate.
 
WEB GEMS: LF Blake Valley tracked down a sinking liner tailing toward the left field line, making a diving snag to rob Dillan Smith of a run-scoring extra base hit with one out in the bottom of the second… In the bottom of the seventh, SS Nico Giarratano sprinted onto the infield grass to scoop up a slow roller and throw a strike on the run to first base; then, Giarratano robbed the next SJSU hitter of a base hit up the middle when he made an acrobatic stab on a hard hit ball to his left, picking the rocket on a short hop while sliding on a knee before popping up to get the out at first with plenty of time.  
 
NOTES: LF Blake Valley extended his team-best hitting streak to 12 games with a single between the third baseman and shortstop to lead off the top of the eighth… RHP Grant Goodman made his first appearance since Feb. 28, throwing one scoreless inning where he allowed one hit… RHP Brock Larson extended his streak to 11 innings in a row without allowing an earned run this season after throwing 1.2 scoreless innings tonight.  
 
UP NEXT: The Dons host UMass Lowell over at Cal's Evans Diamond on Wednesday evening at 6 p.m. RHP Thomas Ponticelli (0-2, 9.19) will matchup with LHP Ricky Constant (0-0, 4.91).