SAN FRANCISCO — Another close game between the University of San Francisco and Stanford University was decided in the late innings Saturday, as the Cardinal scored two runs in the eighth and two runs in the ninth to break a 6-6 tie and win game three of the series, 10-6, at Benedetti Diamond.
 
Saturday's game saw three more tie scores, making it seven ties in the first three games of the series. This time it was the Dons (4-7) coming from behind to tie the game on three separate occasions, just like Stanford (6-1) did in Thursday's series opener. San Francisco erased deficits of 3-0, 5-3 and 6-5 to tie the game at 6-6, but the Stanford bullpen finally shut them down for the final four innings.
 
The series has been the same the whole time," said San Francisco head coach Nino Giarratano. "We've played tough, then we get into the eighth and ninth and we just haven't been able to defend, make pitches and do what we needed to do to win games. You've gotta be able to win from the seventh inning on and they were able to do it for three games and that's how they beat us."
 
The USF bullpen tightened things up as well in the middle innings, only allowing one run on a solo home run from the third through seventh innings. That allowed the Dons to rally twice during that stretch to tie the game – first with two runs in the bottom of the fifth and again with a single run in the bottom of the sixth.
 
Stanford got a three-run home run from Brock Jones in the first inning to jump out to a 3-0 lead. But the Dons answered right back in the bottom half of the inning with three runs of their own. Nick Yovetich drove home USF's first run with an RBI single, and Jacob Munoz tied the game with a two-out, two-run single to make it 3-3.
 
Jones put a crooked number on the scoreboard again in the second with a two-run double, giving Stanford a 5-3 lead. San Francisco answered again with a two-out, two-run rally two innings later. Luke Keaschall drove home Jordan Vujovich with a two-out double and Jack Winkler singled home Keaschall to tie the game. Christian Robinson's solo shot in the fifth made it 6-5 Stanford, but yet again USF answered in the bottom half. Brandon Greim doubled into the right-center field gap to bring home Munoz and make it 6-6.
 
"I sure am proud of the guys," said Giarratano. "We got down early, we battled back, but how many runs could we score against them? We needed to make some pitches in the eighth. That's part of it.
 
"Emotionally, we played so hard for so long. We've been behind in the eighth or ninth inning for three straight games, but this team isn't far away. I think if we learn our lessons about the losses, we'll figure it out. Obviously we've been taking it on the chin, but we're gonna just keep on plugging, man. This team's gonna keep on pluggin', and eventually we're gonna get it.
 
The score stayed that way until the eighth. Stanford got a leadoff walk and single. Both would score thanks to a one-out RBI single and a throwing error on a stolen base at third, making it 8-6. The Cardinal got some clutch insurance in the ninth, getting a two-out, two-run double from Robinson to make it 10-6.
 
San Francisco had a season-high 14 hits Saturday with four players posting multi-hit games. Munoz (3 for 5, double, two RBIs, run), Greim (3 for 5, double, RBI) and Yovetich (3 for 5, RBI, run) all had three-hit games. Stanford also had 14 hits, with four players turning in multi-hit performances.
 
The series finale is scheduled for 1 p.m. Sunday. Right-hander Grant Nechak is scheduled to throw for San Francisco. Fans can find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.