SAN FRANCISCO — The stage was set multiple times Friday for Jack Winkler to send the University of San Francisco baseball team home with a walk-off win, but each time it came down to a matter of inches. On both occasions the sophomore star made solid contact, but visiting CSUN was able to avoid Winkler's heroics to hold on for a 10-9 non-conference series-opening win in 11 innings at Benedetti Diamond.


 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Winkler's biggest shot to end it came in the bottom of the 11th. USF (28-26) was rallying once again after CSUN (22-28) had scored two unearned runs in the top half to take a 10-8 lead. Three consecutive Dons reached base – all pinch-hitters – the last coming in the form of an RBI single from Jordan Barchus that made it 10-9. Winkler stepped to the plate with the tying run on third and the winning run on first. Barchus would move to second on a wild pitch during Winkler's at-bat to put the tying and winning runs in scoring position. On a 1-1 count, Winkler mashed a line drive to the left side, but it was right at CSUN shortstop Brandon Bohning, who gloved it to end the game.
   
• CSUN's runs in the top of the 11th technically never should have happened. San Francisco reliever Alex Pham (3-4) struck out each of the first three batters he faced, but the first and third – Robert Bullard and Brandon Bohning – each reached on dropped third strikes via a throwing error and a fielder's choice, respectively. They both came in to score on a two-run error by the Dons, who with one out tried to make a play at the plate and threw the ball away. CSUN scored both of its runs in the top of the 11th without the aid of a base hit, thanks to two dropped third strikes, a walk and an error.
   
• In the bottom of the ninth, Winkler looked to end a comeback he had started back in the first inning. Chase Hodkinson made it to third base with two outs after a leadoff single, sac bunt and a wild pitch, posing as the potential winning run just 90 feet away. Winkler got ahead in the count at 2-1 but mightily swung and missed at the next pitch. Then he rolled a ball up the middle, but it was fielded by the CSUN second baseman to end the inning.
   
• Winkler started USF's comeback Friday by hitting his sixth home run of the season in the bottom of the first to put the Dons on the board. CSUN had gotten a three-run homer from Blake Doremus in the top of the first and already led 3-1 after one. Another three-run blast in the second inning made it 6-1 Matadors. But USF scored four in the third, two in the fifth and another in the sixth to knot it up at 8-8 and make it a brand-new ballgame.
   
• Riley Helland and Jonathan Allen both had extra-base RBI hits in the Dons' four-run third-inning rally. Helland's RBI double made it 6-2, and Allen cleared the bases with a two-run triple – his second three-bagger of the year. He later scored when CSUN third baseman Josh Cerpa threw away what would've been the third out of the inning, making it 6-5.
   
• CSUN got its own two-out clutch hit in the very next half-inning to re-expand its lead. The Dons were only one pitch away from getting out of a jam in the top of the fourth with the bases loaded and two outs. But Andrew Lucas cashed in with a two-run double off the right-center field netting to put the Matadors back up 8-5.
   
• Down but not out, the Dons got back the two runs in the fifth thanks to another RBI double from Helland and a run-scoring balk called on CSUN starter Isaiah Nunez, making it 8-7. They tied the game an inning later thanks to a pinch-hit RBI single from RJ Cordeiro. Jacob Westerman led off the sixth with a double and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 6: Pham struck out six in 2 2/3 innings of work Friday. It was his 10th appearance this season with at least five strikeouts. Eight of those appearances have been in relief.
• 57: Allen's two RBIs Friday gave him 57 for the season. The number ties him for seventh all-time in a single season at USF with Gregg Omori, who had 57 runs driven in during the 1998 season.

COMING UP

• Game two of the series is scheduled for a 3:03 p.m. first pitch on Saturday. San Francisco lefty Scott Parker will face CSUN right-hander Blake Sodersten. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.