It was another day and another ninth inning comeback for the Dons, though, this one would not end in a win. Grand Canyon would walk away 5-4 winners on the day. USF (10-6, 0-0 WCC) fell down 4-0 after five innings behind starter Sam Granoff.

The sixth inning would see the Dons begin to mount their come back. Tyler Villaroman would start it all off with a walk. Matt Sinatro would reach on a bunt base hit and then Ross Puskarich would double, scoring Villaroman. Dominic Miroglio would then single home both of the runners to bring USF within one at 4-3.

"The guys came back from a 4-0 deficit," head coach Nino Giarratano said. "They came back to tie it up 4-4 which was great. We got a really good outing from Joey (Steele) and Scott (Parker) and a great at bat from Dan James."

The outings from Joey Steele and Scott Parker were critical in keeping USF in the game. Steele followed Granoff with 3.1 innings of scoreless baseball. Parker's biggest pitch came in the eighth inning when he entered the game with runners on first and second base and induced a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning and keep the Dons within one.

Then in the top of the ninth inning, USF would yet again make noise in the final frame. Michael Perri would start it out by reaching on an error. Allen Smoot would then pinch hit for Harrison Bruce and single to right field, advancing Perri to third. Then it was time for the aforementioned Dan James to step up and hit the sac fly that would tie the game.

The bottom of the ninth would not be kind to the Dons as Grand Canyon would take the game without recording an out.  Unfortunately, the struggle to record outs in the final third of the game is a continuing problem for USF.

"Same situation as the last few games," Giarratano said. "We just aren't able to pitch well enough in the 7^th, 8^th or 9^th inning for three days in a row. The guys are confident, we just need to see ourselves pitch better and not put so much pressure on the offensive and defensive side. Offensively we got a lot of guys joining in and we can score enough runs, we just have to hold our opponent down."

Now the Dons are headed home for a week of games starting Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. against Fresno St. You can purchase a ticket to that game by clicking here. Then on Friday, USF will open conference play as they host LMU. You can purchase a ticket to the WCC opener by clicking here.