FULLERTON, Calif. — More timely hitting and strong relief pitching for the University of San Francisco baseball team made Saturday's game two a back-and-forth battle, but free passes and a stubborn offense allowed host Cal State Fullerton to even the series at one apiece, holding on for a 5-4 win at Goodwin Field.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• San Francisco (3-7) came back from an early 1-0 deficit to take its second lead of the series with two runs in the third. The Dons manufactured a two-out rally after Tyler Villaroman got things started with a double. A hit-by-pitch put two on and Jack Winkler drove home Villaroman to tie the game and move Riki Urata to third. USF ran a double steal play with runners on first and third, bringing home the go-ahead run before Winkler could be tagged out to make it 2-1.
   
• On the mound, San Francisco issued eight free passes (seven walks, one hit-by-pitch), only one of which that would score, but causing plenty of traffic on the base paths. Cal State Fullerton (4-6) had the bases loaded in the first inning thanks to three walks and had them loaded again in the third thanks to three consecutive free passes to lead off the inning. They would score runs in both of those frames for a tie game (2-2) after three.
   
• The Titans never had an RBI extra-base hit on Saturday, only scoring on one single, two sacrifice flies and two wild pitches. Jackson Lyon's RBI single in the fourth gave them the lead for good, making it 3-2. They would add critical insurance runs in the sixth inning when Lyon and Brett Borgogno both scored on wild pitches, making it 5-4.
   
• Those runs were the ballgame, with San Francisco scoring twice in the eighth on an RBI groundout from Jacob Munoz and a pinch-hit RBI double from Jacob Westerman, making it 5-4. USF got a one-out baserunner in the ninth, but two flyouts to centerfield ended the threat.
   
• Julian Washburn was strong out of the 'pen for USF, throwing 2 1/3 perfect innings, striking out six of the seven batters he faced. Cal State Fullerton's Kyle Luckham (2-0) got the win with 6 2/3 innings, giving up 10 hits but only allowing two runs while striking out seven and walking none.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

• 5: Saturday marked the fifth game this season USF has issued at least five walks in a game. It is 0-5 in those games, 3-2 in all others.
• 13: USF collected 13 hits, its second-most in a game this season. Four players had multi-hit games, but only three of the 13 hits went for extra bases.

COMING UP

• Freshman righty Eric Reyzelman takes the mound for the Dons in Sunday's game three, seeking USF's first weekend series victory of the year. Fans can find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.