SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Returning to their home diamond for the first time in two and a half weeks, the USF Dons baseball team (14-15, 5-8) emerged victorious in their series opener with the Pepperdine Waves (11-20, 4-9) by a 5-1 final score on Friday afternoon.
USF starting pitcher
Jesse Barron set the tone for the Dons on Friday as he tossed 6 1/3 innings of one run ball to stifle the Waves' hitters on Friday. Utility player
Tyler Martinez came through with the big hit for USF as he hit a bases clearing double in the bottom of the fourth providing the Dons with enough runs to take the series opener.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- The first three and half innings of play consisted of scoreless baseball with each starting pitcher on top of their games trading zeroes under the San Francisco sun.
- USF was able to break through in the bottom of the fourth as Michael Campagna led off the inning with a walk and reached third base on a double from Christian Stapleton one batter later. After Patrick Keighran was hit by a pitch with two out, T. Martinez came through with a clutch bases clearing double down the left field line that put the Dons ahead 3-0 heading into the fifth inning.
- The Dons were not done tacking on runs as they built a two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth with Campagna working a walk and Stapleton reaching base on an error. Will Asby came through in the clutch with a double down the right field line to plate the USF catcher and make it a 4-0 USF lead.
- Barron continued his strong outing by tossing 6 1/3 scoreless innings before being tagged for a solo home run from the Waves to get back within three runs at 4-1.
- USF would go on to add another run to their total in the bottom of the seventh as DeMera was hit by a pitch to begin the inning and came around to score on an RBI groundout from Campagna to make it 5-1 Dons.
- Weston Lombard came in for USF to relieve Barron as he retired nine of the ten hitters he faced with a groundout to the second baseman Blake Atkins securing the Dons' series opening victory by a 5-1 final score.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
- Barron had another stellar outing making his first Friday start of the year as he tossed 6 1/3 innings of one run ball only allowing a pair of hits, one walk and striking out seven Waves hitters to pick up the victory.
- DeMera had another great game at the top of the order as he reached base three times going 2-for-4 with a run scored playing shortstop against Pepperdine.
- T. Martinez came through with a huge three-run double as he served as the Dons' designated hitter as he went 1-for-4 with three RBI on Friday afternoon.
- Continuing to boost his team-leading on-base percentage, Campagna worked a pair of walks and scored twice as he served as the team's catcher against the Waves.
- Picking up his third save of the season, Lombard threw 2 2/3 scoreless innings allowing just one hit and striking out three Pepperdine hitters in the win.
POST GAME WITH THE DONS:
UP NEXT:
The Dons return home tomorrow afternoon for the second game of the weekend series against Pepperdine at 1:00 p.m. with
Adam Shew schedule to toe the rubber for USF. Live streaming and live statistics for the contest are available via the
team's schedule page.
FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the USF baseball program, be sure to follow @SFDonsBaseball on Twitter, @USFDonsBaseball on Instagram and @University.of.San.Francisco.Baseball on Facebook.
MERCHANDISE:
Want to dress like the Dons? Rep USF today by visiting the all-new USF Dons online store at
www.usfdons.com/shop.
SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge our department sponsor – Nike - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact
Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.
