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.
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.
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.
