The Dons kicked off a three-game series in the valley of the sun with a high-scoring win. The Dons (9-5, 0-0 WCC) knocked-off host Grand Canyon University 13-6 on Friday night behind two big innings.
Grand Canyon would actually score first in the bottom half of the opening inning to take a 1-0 lead. That lead would only last until the third inning when USF would put up two runs thanks in large part to the speed of freshman Tyler Villaroman.
Villaroman would reach in that third inning by way of a bunt single. He would then steal second and advance to third on a wild pitch. Matt Sinatro would then walk and steal second, and on that steal of second, Villaroman would swipe home.
"We want to see him continue to get better," head coach Nino Giarratano said of Villaroman. "He's just a great competitor. He's using all of his tools now, too. The bunt base hit showed that and he is giving every team problems on the base paths."
Nico Giarratano would single home Sinatro to finish the third inning rally. The Dons lead would be short-lived, though, as Grand Canyon would score two on starter Grant Goodman in the bottom of the third. USF would break the game open in the top of the fourth, though.
Ross Puskarich (2-for-4, two runs scored) would single to lead-off the inning and Michael Perri would walk, setting the table for Manny Ramirez Jr. He would step up and promptly smack one right out of the park.
"It's really nice to see Manny playing with confidence," Giarratano said. "He hit that ball a mile long and that really helped us."
The Dons weren't done yet. Villaroman would reach on an error and steal his third bag of the game and ultimately score on a single by Harrison Bruce. Sinatro would single after that and Giarratano would keep the hot bat going with a 2-run double down the left field line concluding the six-run inning.
Grand Canyon would score one in the bottom of the fourth and two in the bottom of the sixth to make it an 8-6 game entering the late innings which have troubled the Dons in their losses this season. That would not be the case on this night as another rally would ice the game.
Puskarich would start this one with a single again. Them, after Perri was hit by a pitch, Villaroman singled home Puskarich. Brady Bate would then pinch-hit and get hit by a pitch to load the bases. Sinatro would then single home a run before Giarratano knocked in his fourth run of the game and team-leading 11th of the season.
Goodman (2-0) got the win on a night where he got hit well for the first time all season. He finished with a line of 5.2 innings pitched, 10 hits and six earned runs. After the Dons final rally in the seventh, Scott Parker and Riley Ornido would close the game out. Ornido finished the last two innings himself without allowing a baserunner.
The name of the game tonight was the table-setters reaching base. the 8-9-1 portion of the batting order (Villaroman, Bruce and Sinatro) reached base seven times combined.
"I really thought that Matt (Sinatro), Harrison (Bruce) and Villa (Tyler Villaroman) were instrumental," Giarratano said. "They were seeing a lot of pitches and keeping the game going and eventually our speed just kind of wore them down."
For the fourth weekend in a row, the Dons have won the first game of the weekend. In 2016, USF only won the first game of a weekend five times and only did it six times in 2015.
"It's instrumental," Giarratano said of winning the first game of a weekend. "That's the difference between two years ago, a year ago, and now. When you win on Friday you get two shots to win the series. It also relaxes you a little bit and lets you settle in."
The Dons will be right back at it on Saturday at 1 p.m. PST against Grand Canyon. Then on Sunday, another 1 p.m. PST start before heading home. Then the Dons will play Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. against Fresno St. and you can buy a ticket to it by clicking here. And then that following weekend is the WCC opener against LMU. You can buy a ticket to the opening game of conference play by clicking here.
