BASE | Dons Split Doubleheader at Sacramento State - University of San Francisco Athletics

Saturday, May 15

Sacramento, Calif.

1 P.M.

University of San Francisco

20-24

Sacramento State

30-18

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
San Francisco	0	4	1	0	0	0	1	6	7	1
Sacramento State	0	0	2	0	3	1	1	7	11	1

Christian Stapleton at Sacramento State 5-15-2021

Christian Stapleton hit two home runs in Saturday's doubleheader, giving him four on the year

Photo by: Christina Leung

BASE | Dons Split Doubleheader at Sacramento State

5/15/2021 10:19:00 PM | Baseball

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A day after its bats went silent, the University of San Francisco baseball team's offense exploded Saturday with five home runs and 14 total runs in a non-conference doubleheader split against Sacramento State, as the Dons dropped the opener, 7-6, before blowing out the Hornets, 8-0, in the nightcap at John Smith Field.

GAME ONE

What started as a blowout in the opener turned into a back-and-forth thriller that ended in a walkoff, 7-6 win for Sacramento State (30-19). The Dons (21-24) jumped out to a 5-0 lead by the third inning of game one, a seven-inning contest. A four-run, two-out rally in the second made it 4-0 USF thanks to a two-run double by Jordan Vujovich and a two-run home run to follow by Ryan Davis – his fourth homer of the year. Christian Stapleton in the third inning hit his first of what would be two home runs on the day, an opposite-field shot to put the Dons up, 5-0.

But Sacramento State (30-19) did to USF what the Dons have done to teams all year long – battle back. The Hornets answered Singleton's shot in the third with their own two-out rally in the bottom half for two runs and a 5-2 score. It stayed that way for another inning and a half, until Dawsen Bacho came through with the biggest blow of the game – a three-run, game-tying homer off top USF reliever Alex Pham, making it 5-5.

The Hornets then put together another two-out run-scoring rally – the third in the game between the two teams – to take a slim, 6-5 lead in the bottom of the sixth. McPhillips drew a two-out walk and Doyle doubled him home all the way from first.

San Francisco had one more push left in it in its final at-bat in the top of the seventh. With two outs and trailing 6-5, Luke Keaschall hit a ground ball to third, but an errant throw allowed him to reach safely and allowed Nick Yovetich to score all the way from second base, making it 6-6. It was the second time the Dons had erased a deficit in the series (also on Friday), and the 31st time in 2021 they had come back from trailing during a game.

M7 | #Dons 6 -- #Hornets 6

❗️NEW BALLGAME❗️

USF ties the game in its last at-bat on a wild play - a 2-base error and a run scoring from 2nd w/o the ball leaving the infield!

We're on to the Bot 7th now with @SacStBaseball's 5-6-7 due up and Alex Pham still on the mound for USF pic.twitter.com/3OmH4mjWUn
— USF Dons Baseball (@SFDonsBaseball) May 15, 2021

Bacho made sure the teams didn't play any more innings than they already planned to Saturday, leading off the bottom of the seventh for Sacramento State with a double, moving to third on a sacrifice bunt, then scoring on a game-winning, pinch-hit RBI single from Logan Denholm.

GAME TWO

The nightcap was all San Francisco, as the Dons hit three more home runs and Jesse Barron was strong in his first career start, running away with an 8-0 victory.

Jesse Barron (4-2), fresh off a strong long-relief appearance last weekend – already a new spot for him to be in – found himself in another new spot as the starter in game two. He threw five shutout innings, only allowing one hit and striking out five to earn the win in his first collegiate start. He gave up a double in the first inning, and then never allowed another runner past first base.

Freshman righty Chase Minor was strong in relief with three perfect innings. He struck out a season-high five and retired all nine of the batters he faced. It was the longest outing of his debut season and lowered his team-best ERA to 1.54.

T4 | #Dons 3 -- #Hornets 0

💥SEE YA AGAIN!💥

Christian Stapleton goes back-to-back with Harris Williams! It's his 2nd HR of the day after also homering in Gm 1 of the doubleheader

4️⃣ HRs on the year now for Stapleton#USFDons pic.twitter.com/FxpSSgjnVV
— USF Dons Baseball (@SFDonsBaseball) May 16, 2021

Meanwhile, Jacob Munoz found his stroke again with a double and three RBIs off the bench, his first multi-RBI game in two weeks. Jacob Westerman went 2 for 2 and scored twice off the bench, Jack Winkler had a multi-hit game (2 for 5), and so did Ryan Davis (2 for 4). Harris Williams and Stapleton went back-to-back with solo home runs in the fourth. It was the fourth homer of the year for both of them and gave the Dons 46 home runs as a team – their most since hitting 52 in 2010.

Sunday's series finale is scheduled for 1 p.m. back in San Francisco. USF righty Eric Reyzelman is scheduled to pitch against Sacramento State's Eli Saul. Fans can find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.