SAN FRANCISCO – The USF baseball team came up on the short end of a 14 inning marathon on Saturday afternoon at Benedetti Diamond as the Dons fell to Saint Mary's, 2-1, when the Gaels finally broke the stalemate with Andrew Shebloski's go-ahead single in the top of the 14^th.

Both teams struggled to take advantage of opportunities all game long, going a combined 4-for-35 with runners on base and just 2-for-19 with runners in scoring position.
 
Ross Puskarich went 2-for-6 on the day, driving in the only USF run with an RBI single in the sixth. Nico Giarratano had a pair of hits and a run scored, while Matt Sinatro also collected two hits.

"We're pressing," head coach Nino Giarratano said. "[Johnny York] and [Ken Waldichuk] were really good against us. We're trying too hard to do some things and we can't get on track right now. We've got to keep plugging. It's been as rough a stretch as you can encounter, but it's one of those things where we're going to have to show some toughness."

Saint Mary's (20-10, 5-3 WCC) got the leadoff man on in every one of the extra frames except the 14^th, the inning in which they actually took the lead. Brett Rasso drew a one-out walk from USF reliever Benji Post in the 14^th and advanced safely to second on a mix up on a comebacker where Post didn't know which middle infielder to throw to in attempting to turn a double play.
 
Two batters later Rasso came around from second on the two-out go-ahead base hit up the middle by Shebloski, leaving Post (4-2) on the hook for the loss after he threw 3.1 innings of relief, allowing the one run on two hits while issuing three walks and striking out one.

The Dons (14-17, 2-9 WCC) were unable to take advantage of Thomas Ponticelli's one-hit outing where he held Saint Mary's scoreless over 7.1 innings while striking out eight.

Instead, Ponticelli was relieved with one out in the top of the eighth by right-hander Joey Carney. With the Dons leading 1-0, Carney gave up a two-out tying double to pinch-hitter Austin Chauvin.   
 
"I thought Thomas was great today," Giarratano said. "I think if we'd have had him this entire time, you see a different team. He was on a pitch limit today, so we had to get him out of there. Unfortunately, we gave up the lead within three hitters. He did a great job of doing what he does best today."

The Dons barely missed out on a potential walk-off hit when defensive replacement Tyler Villaroman came to bat in the bottom of the ninth with runners at first and second and one out in a tie game. Villaroman roped a sinking line drive to left field that was snagged by a diving Rasso, who quickly came up and doubled up Puskarich on second, who thought he was coming around to score the game winner, but instead ended up on the back end of an inning-ending double play that forced extra innings.

Giarratano turned in a highlight reel play of his own in the top of the ninth when he made a diving stop on a sharp ground ball up the middle, getting the final out with a glove flip to second base that saved a run from scoring and helped preserve the 1-1 tie.

This was the Dons' second-longest game this season after enduring a 16 inning loss at Gonzaga on Mar. 25.

The Dons and Gaels conclude the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. with right-hander Daniel Slominski (1-3, 3.80) slated to get the start opposite Saint Mary's righty Drew Strotman (3-0, 4.23).