Williams III and Stapleton Homer as Dons Best UC Davis

Tuesday, May 16

San Francisco, Calif.

1:00 p.m.

University of San Francisco

17-27

UC Davis

17-31

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
UC Davis	0	0	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	3	10	0
San Francisco	0	0	2	1	0	0	2	0	X	5	8	0

Photo by: Christina Leung

5/16/2023 5:07:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Beginning the final week of the regular season with their final non-conference game on the schedule, the USF Dons baseball team (17-27, 7-17) picked up a 5-3 victory on their home diamond over the UC Davis Aggies (17-31, 7-17) on Tuesday afternoon.

Led by tremendous starting pitching from Jesse Barron's three scoreless innings and home runs from Harris Williams III and Christian Stapleton, the Dons picked up a nice home victory to guarantee themselves no worse than a .500 record at Benedetti Diamond this season.

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

After each team exchanged scoreless frames through two and a half innings, the Dons were able to break through in the bottom of the third with the first two runs of the game. Ryan Martinez led off the inning with a walk, and then came around to score on Harris Williams III's two-run home run to right center that put the home team ahead.
The Aggies were able to answer back in the top of the fourth with a run of their own to cut the lead down to 2-1.
Wasting little time to get the run back, Christian Stapleton came through with a long solo home run to right center field that put the Dons back ahead by a pair leading 3-1.
UC Davis would then add two more runs to tie the game with a tally in the fifth before tying the game in the top of the seventh inning at 3-apiece.
Tied late in the game, Mattie Thomas led off the USF seventh with an opposite field single to left and reached second on a sacrifice bunt from Blake Atkins. Ryan Martinez then came through with an RBI single up the middle to score Thomas and put the Dons ahead. Harris Williams III would add a tack on run with a single to left that brought home Tyler Martinez.
Weston Lombard would shut the door on the Aggies with scoreless frames in the eighth and ninth as he earned his third victory of the season by a 5-3 final score.

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

Setting the tone at the top of the Dons' batting order, Williams III went 3-for-4 with his ninth home run of the season as he drove in three runs on Tuesday afternoon.
Making another start and twirling a gem, Barron retired all nine UC Davis hitters he faced with three scoreless innings and four strikeouts against the Aggies.
Matching Harris again for the team lead in home runs, Stapleton left the yard for the ninth time in 2023 as he went 1-for-3 against UC Davis.
R. Martinez had a nice afternoon serving as the team's shortstop as he went 1-for-2 with an RBI and a run scored on Tuesday.
Slamming the door with a multi-inning relief appearance, Lombard pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings while striking out a trio of Aggie hitters.

POST GAME WITH THE DONS:

To view the highlights from today's 5-3 win over UC Davis, please click here.
To view our post game press conference with USF head baseball coach Rob DiToma, please click here.
To view our post game press conference with Weston Lombard and Ryan Martinez, please click here.

UP NEXT:
The Dons now look ahead to their final weekend series of the year as they will welcome the Portland Pilots (26-20, 15-9) to the Hilltop beginning on Thursday, May 18 with all three games scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. first pitch. 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 – Toyota - 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.