SAN JOSE, Calif. – The Dons cruised to a 7-2 win over San Jose State on Sunday evening at Municipal Stadium behind a bases-loaded triple off the bat of Nico Giarratano that highlighted a four-run fifth inning and gave USF the lead for good.
 
Dominic Miroglio went 2-for-4 and clubbed his team-leading eighth home run, while Ross Puskarich helped set the table all night with a pair of doubles en route to a 3-for-4 day in which he scored twice.
 
"This is three games in a row for us, which is big," head coach Nino Giarratano said. "We had some big hits offensively and when you put all that together and hit with runners in scoring position, that's how you win games."  
 
Puskarich's double to lead off the top of the third helped setup Sinatro's RBI double two batters later that put USF (27-26) on the board.
 
The lead would be short-lived, however, as San Jose State (16-34-1) evened it in the bottom half of the inning when Kellen Strahm hit a leadoff single and later scored on Josh Nashed's RBI base hit.
 
The Spartans climbed on top, 2-1, when Kyle Morrison led off the bottom of the fourth with a triple. Two batters later, Michael Breen bounced out to shortstop, scoring Morrison.  
 
Puskarich again helped spark some USF offense with his one-out single in the fifth. A walk by Harrison Bruce and a base hit from Sinatro loaded the bases for Giarratano's go-ahead triple into the right-center alley, giving the Dons a 4-1 lead. The next batter, Allen Smoot, plated Giarratano with a groundout to second base.
 
With the momentum in their favor riding four scoreless innings of relief from right-hander Benji Post, the Dons added a pair of insurance runs in the top of the eighth when Miroglio homered, bringing home Smoot, who had been hit by a pitch in the previous at bat.
 
Post (6-2) allowed just one hit while striking out three in relief of Scott Parker, who gave up two runs on five hits with two walks and a strikeout over four innings in the start.
 
"I thought Benji was wonderful tonight just giving us those zeros," Giarratano said. "I thought Scotty did a good job of getting through those first three innings. He wasn't really sharp, but sharp enough."  
 
The Dons and Spartans wrap up the series on Monday night with another 7 p.m. first pitch from Municipal Stadium. USF will send left-hander Sam Granoff (2-4, 4.14) to the mound looking for the series sweep.