SAN FRANCISCO — Tuesday's non-conference matchup versus Sacramento State was the University of San Francisco baseball team's last chance for a tune-up and to get things right before opening West Coast Conference play on the road at a nationally ranked opponent this weekend.
 
And get right, it did.
 
San Francisco scored nine unanswered runs and totaled 16 hits en route to a 12-4 midweek swatting of the visiting Hornets at Benedetti Diamond, giving it seven wins in its last nine games before the big series this weekend at No. 16/24 Pepperdine.
 
"We had good at-bats from everybody," said San Francisco head coach Nino Giarratano. "(Tyler) Villaroman put together good at-bats, (Darius) Foster put together good at-bats, the two guys who came off the bench – (Kyle) Knell and Harris Williams – they came off the bench with four hits in four at-bats. We had good at-bats from (Jacob) Munoz all day, (Robert) Emery put together good at-bats for us, y'know, we had 12 guys come to the plate and really compete."
 
The Dons fell behind early, 2-0, when Sacramento State (9-7) had five of its first six batters in the first inning reach safely, including back-to-back RBI singles with the bases loaded. A double play avoided any further damage for the Dons, and starter Julian Washburn settled in after that, retiring six of the next seven he faced with three strikeouts.
 
Meanwhile, the Dons' offense took off. A sacrifice fly in the second got USF on the board before it put five runs on the board in the third to take the lead for good. The big rally was buoyed by grand slam from Nick Yovetich, a towering shot over the right-center field fence that he crushed after working a full count, giving the Dons a 5-2 lead at the time.
 
"Big hits by Yovi today, that grand slam obviously kinda changed the complexion of the game," said Giarratano. "Excited to put up 16 hits here at home on a Tuesday before conference."
 
RBI singles from Munoz and Jacob Westerman in the fourth made it 8-2, and another RBI single from Jack Winkler – one of two for him on the day – made it 9-2. Another three-run rally in the seventh capped by Winkler's second RBI knock made it 12-4 and put a cap on the game.
 
The Dons' bullpen took care of the rest, with only a seventh-inning, two-run home run blemishing six innings of relief from five pitchers.
 
"Really excited that we got some guys in there that needed some work," said Giarratano. "(Jake) Pizzo came out of there, runners on first and third and got his out, (Matthew) McConnell came back out and got his outs, gave up a big home run on a mis-executed pitch, but was plenty good. I liked what (Julian) Washburn was able to do in three innings, I liked what (Nick) Roth was able to do in his two innings… we'll take that."
 
Now San Francisco kicks off West Coast Conference play with the tallest of tasks – facing a top-25 ranked Pepperdine team on the road in Malibu, where it hasn't won a series in 14 years.
 
"You wanna get off to a good start, but playing on the road at Pepperdine, that's a tough place to play," said Giarratano. "I just wanna see us play well. I wanna see us pitch like we're capable of, and defend, and then score our runs.
 
"Historically, in my time, the conference championship has always gone through Pepperdine. It's nothing new. We know we need to go down there and play well. We know they're ranked in the top-20. It's gonna be a fun series. Whether we can win two out of three or not, we're gonna put ourselves in a good position in the conference, I really think. Playing on the road to open the season at a top-20 program right now, that's a tough task, but I think the kids are up for it."