BERKELEY, Calif. – Freshman right-hander Thomas Ponticelli turned in his best outing of his brief collegiate career by throwing seven innings of one-run ball while striking out a team season-best six hitters en route to his first-career win on Wednesday evening, an 8-1 victory over UMass Lowell at Evans Diamond.
 
"It felt great," said Ponticelli. "It felt amazing. I was waiting for it. In the beginning, I started out a little rocky, but I settled in around the fourth inning and I started attacking low in the zone and mixing up my pitches well.
 
"Nothing different tonight, but I think the only thing that showed up more tonight was how relaxed I was on the mound."
 
Ponticelli allowed just five hits while walking one in matching Anthony Shew's outing at Cal Poly on Mar. 4 for the longest of the season for the Dons. 
 
"[Thomas] scattered some opportunities early," said head coach Nino Giarratano on Ponticelli's outing. "He wasn't extremely sharp with his execution, but his stuff was really good, and when he got into the seventh I thought he was really sharp. I think it was great to see him get on track and give us seven innings.
 
Matt Sinatro (2-for-3, 4 R) and Nico Giarratano (2-for-3, RBI) helped lead the Dons offensively, while Dan James delivered a two-run pinch-hit single in the eighth inning. Seven of the nine Don starters recorded hits on the night.
 
USF (5-14) struck first when Blake Valley crushed a one-out RBI double that short hopped the center field wall and brought Sinatro around to score in the bottom of the first.
 
The Dons added two runs in the bottom of the third when Beau Bozett tapped a ball back to the pitcher with one out and runners at first and third, allowing Sinatro to score. The next batter, Aaron Ping, dropped down a beautiful drag bunt right along the third base line that allowed him to reach safely and Valley to score in the process, putting the Dons up 3-0.
 
UMass Lowell (6-5) got on the board in the top of the fourth when Steve Passatempo ripped a one-out double down the left field line that scored the runner from first.
 
In the bottom of the sixth, Sinatro looped a two-out single into left field that eventually set him up to score on Giarratano's RBI single lined back up the middle, which gave USF a 4-1 advantage.
 
USF capped it off with a four-run eighth inning that saw the Dons take advantage of two separate UMass Lowell fielding errors to plate a pair of runs, mixed in with James' two-run pinch-hit single lofted into right field by, giving the Dons their final 8-1 lead. 
 
"We'll take the third win in a row and we'll go with some confidence into conference," added Giarratano. "It was something we had hoped we could do – get some wins before we headed into conference and we've been able to do that, so hopefully that helps us."
 
UMass Lowell starter Ricky Constant (0-1) was saddled with the loss after going three innings, allowing three runs on three hits while issuing five walks and striking out two.
 
Joe Consolmagno (2-for-4, R) and Ben Prada (2-for-3) turned in multi-hit games for the River Hawks.
 
 
NOTES: DH Blake Valley extended his team-best hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI double in the bottom of the first… RF Beau Bozett extended his on-base streak to 11 games with a first-inning walk… RHP Thomas Ponticelli best James Kannenberg's previous single-game best of five strikeouts… the Dons' eight runs were a season-high.
 
UP NEXT: The Dons travel to Santa Clara this weekend to open West Coast Conference play with a three-game series at Stephen Schott Stadium, with game one set for Friday evening with a 7 p.m. first pitch. RHP Anthony Shew (0-2, 7.27) is slated to take the mound for USF in the series opener.