FULLERTON, Calif. — Late fireworks added drama to Sunday's series finale at Goodwin Field, with the University of San Francisco baseball team claiming its first series victory of the season with a 7-6 win over host Cal State Fullerton thanks in part to six runs in the final three innings.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• San Francisco starter Eric Reyzelman (2-1) was strong through six-plus innings, striking out eight and only walking one, but the Dons trailed, 2-1, entering the seventh. That's when the Dons' offense exploded, sending nine batters to the plate and scoring five runs – the biggest blow being a pinch-hit, three-run homer off the bat of Jacob Westerman. Matthew Mendibles had already tied the game at 2-2 with his second hit of the day, an RBI single to score Jacob Munoz, who led off the inning with a double. Westerman's blast put the Dons ahead for good at 5-2. He worked his count to 3-1 to gain the advantage and get the pitch he wanted before sending it over the wall for the lead.
   
• The Dons (4-7) weren't done in the seventh after Westerman's blast. Tyler Villaroman drew a one-out walk and stole his second base of the day to move into scoring position. After a Riki Urata single moved him to third, Villaroman would come home on an RBI fielder's choice, making it 6-2.
   
• Cal State Fullerton (4-7) was not to be outdone, though. The Titans got their own three-run bomb in the bottom half of the seventh off the bat of Josh Urps to pull back within one run at 6-5. A leadoff double had chased Reyzelman from the game and an infield single by Brett Borgogno set up Urps' homer.
   
• The Dons got an important insurance run in the eighth when Mendibles, who had a career day with three hits and two RBIs, drove in Munoz again to make it 7-5. That run would be the game -winner, as Cal State Fullerton manufactured a run in the bottom of the ninth and brought the tying run to the plate, but Jesse Barron logged his second save of the series by striking out Borgogno to end the game and the weekend.

COACH GIARRATANO QUOTES

• "Great start and close by two freshmen. Reyzelman gave us a good opportunity to win the game for six innings. Jesse Barron was good again for his second save on the weekend."
   
• The weekend will be a good confidence builder for us. We pitched way better and offensive production came from many different people. Today, the three-run homer off the bench by Westerman was huge and the three hits by Mendibles was a boost for the team.
   
• "Defense was also solid all three games. Hopefully this is the start of something special for us."

NUMBERS TO KNOW

• .500: The Dons hit .500 (6 for 12) with runners in scoring position Sunday, their best performance of the year. USF only left seven runners on, its second-lowest total in the past five games.
• 3: Villaroman stole three bases on the weekend – two on Sunday – and has seven already in 11 games. His 57 career stolen bases have moved him into a tie for fifth all-time in the USF record book.
• 13: The Dons collected 13 hits again Sunday, for the second day in a row. San Francisco batted .311 in the series with 33 hits, four doubles and a home run.

COMING UP

• San Francisco will play three of its next five games at home, and all five in the Bay Area. The Dons host Mount St. Mary's on Tuesday and Wednesday for a two-game non-conference series, then begin a home-and-home weekend series with California. The series starts in Berkeley on Friday, shifts to The City on Saturday, then concludes in Berkeley on Sunday.
   
• Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.