SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Sacramento State pinch-hitter Blake Edmondson stepped up with the bases loaded and one out in the bottom of the 10^th inning and delivered a walk-off two-run double that made the difference in a 6-5 Dons loss on Tuesday afternoon at John Smith Field.
 
Sacramento State (11-8) took advantage of back-to-back walks to start the bottom of the 10^th before a sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk loaded the bases for Edmondson's game-winner.
 
The half-inning prior, USF (7-16) had rallied to take a 5-4 lead when Blake Valley led off the top of the 10^th with an infield single before Harrison Bruce laid down a sacrifice bunt that was overthrown at first base by Sacramento State pitcher Tyler Beardsley, giving the Dons runners at second and third with nobody out.
 
The next hitter, Matt Sinatro, battled through a 10-pitch at bat before lifting a 3-2 offering to center field for a sacrifice fly that plated Bruce for the go-ahead run at the time.  
 
"I thought that Thomas [Ponticelli] pitched good; I thought Benji Post pitched really well," said head coach Nino Giarratano, whose squad used eight pitchers on the day, the second-most this season. "I was happy with the way Joey Steele went in there and competed. Mack [Meyer] came in and did his job, we just didn't turn the double play. We blew a four-run lead because we hit a guy to lead off an inning in a 4-1 game, then they got a couple lucky bounces and we didn't play good catch at third base.
 
"Any time you have the lead and you walk the leadoff guy you're just asking for trouble. We were in control for 99.9 percent of the game, so I don't know how much we can change beside the fact that we've got to execute to get that sixth run. Today was a day where we should have dominated and we didn't, so we'll just pick up the pieces and play better on Thursday."  
 
Frank Waliczek (0-1) was saddled with the loss in relief for the Dons, allowing two runs on one hit while walking three in his one inning of work in the 10th.
 
Dan James (4-for-5, R, 2B, 2 RBI), Allen Smoot (3-for-5, 2B,  R), Blake Valley (3-for-4, 2B, R), Riley Helland (2-for-3, R, RBI) and Brady Bate (2-for-2) each tallied multiple hits for USF.
 
USF got on the board in the top of the first when Riley Helland beat out an infield single to third that scored Harrison Bruce.
 
The Dons added to their lead with a two-out, two-run double off the bat of James in the top of the third, followed by Matt Warkentin's RBI single in the next at bat.
 
Trailing by three runs, Sacramento State rallied back to tie it in the bottom of the seventh behind an RBI double by Gunner Pollman, a two-out run-scoring fielder's choice to third base and a two-out, two-strike jam single that dropped into center field by Bronson Grubbs that knotted the game at 4-4.
 
At one point, Dons pitchers retired 14 batters in a row between the second and sixth innings until Grubbs snapped the streak with a two-out bunt single in the bottom of the sixth.
 
Beardsley (3-0) picked up the win in relief, despite allowing the go-ahead run in the top of the 10^th, his lone inning of work.
 
Grubbs (2-for-5, R, RBI) was the only Hornet to notch multiple hits, while Chris Lewis, Kody Reynolds, Pollman and Edmondson each drove in runs for Sacramento State.   
 
 
WEB GEMS: 3B Dan James made a pair of standout defensive plays in the bottom of the third - with nobody on and no outs, James made a sliding backhanded stop along the third base line and came up to throw a strike across the diamond; he followed that up with a diving stop, laying out to his right to make a stab and throw to end the inning.
 
NOTES: The Dons scored in the first inning for just the third time this year… RHP Brock Larson allowed his first earned runs of the year (9 appearances)… USF left a season-high 14 runners on base… the Dons matched their season high with 16 hits as a team… this was the Dons' second extra-inning game of the year (0-2)… Dan James was the first Don since Connor Bernatz in 2008 to have at least four hits in a game.      
 
UP NEXT: The Dons host Pacific in the annual Dante Benedetti Classic on Thursday at AT&T Park. That game will begin around 5 p.m. following the Saint Ignatius/Sacred Heart game preceding it. That will open up a three-game WCC series with the Tigers, as the final two games of that series will take place at Pacific's Klein Family Field on Friday at 7 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. RHP Anthony Shew (0-3, 6.17) will take the mound for the Dons in Friday's series opener.