SAN FRANCISCO — The season's biggest showdown of West Coast Conference aces played out just as expected Friday, with University of San Francisco's Riley Ornido and Saint Mary's Ken Waldichuk matching shutout inning for shutout inning, but it was the Dons who would come away with the key game one victory, scoring twice in the eighth on four consecutive singles against the Gaels' bullpen to win 2-0 at Benedetti Diamond.


 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Neither team could scratch across a run against the opposing starter, so the game became a battle of bullpens starting in the eighth. That's when the Dons went to work. Joey Steele (1-3) struck out the side in the top of the eighth and USF (19-14, 8-5 WCC) rolled the momentum into the bottom half.
   
• Tyler Villaroman got San Francisco's rally going in the eighth against SMC's Michael Hobbs (0-1) with his third hit of the game, a one-out bloop single to left-center field. Jack Winkler followed with another seeing-eye single through the left side on a hit-and-run that moved the speedy Villaroman to third. Then Riley Helland dribbled a ball deep into the hole at second base that allowed Villaroman to score and give the Dons the first run of the game at 1-0. Jonathan Allen powered another single to the opposite gap, scoring Winkler and making it 2-0. Each of the Dons' final three singles by Winkler, Helland and Allen all came on the first pitch.
   
• Both starting pitchers lived up to the hype of their matchup. Ornido and Waldichuk each threw seven shutout innings. Waldichuk struck out nine and stranded runners in scoring position on three occasions. Ornido struck out seven and left runners in scoring position in six of his frames. Both teams had runners on base and in scoring position, but they went a combined 3 for 20 Friday to keep it a low-scoring affair.
   
• Saint Mary's tried putting together a two-out rally in the third with back-to-back singles and a five-pitch walk. No. 5 hitter Ryan Novis drove a ball to deep right-center field and looked to clear the bases for the game's first runs, but USF center fielder Tyler Villaroman tracked the ball down, making a sliding catch at the warning track to end the inning.
   
• Ornido escaped another jam in the sixth when he stranded two runners in scoring position. Saint Mary's got back-to-back one-out doubles off the right field wall from J.C. Santini and Bryce Willits. Jacob Washburn played Willits' double off the wall bare-handed and threw the ball in quickly to keep Santini at third base. Ornido was then able to get an infield popup and a strikeout to keep the game scoreless.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 7: Villaroman extended his hitting streak to seven games with his second three-hit performance in the last three games. He has raised his batting average 61 points to .248 on the year during his streak.
• 11: Ornido (7) and Steele (4) combined to strike out 11 batters. It was the Dons' eighth game this season with double-digit strikeouts, and third in the last five.
• 12: Saint Mary's left 12 runners on base Friday, including eight in scoring position. The Gaels went 1 for 10 with runners in scoring position (San Francisco went 2 for 10).

COMING UP

• Game two is scheduled for a 1 p.m. first pitch on Saturday. Saint Mary's righty Tyler Thornton will face San Francisco left-hander Scott Parker. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.