SAN FRANCISCO – The USF baseball team found itself trailing by five runs after five innings of play, but took advantage of nine walks and a pair of errors to rally back for a 14-6 victory over Sacramento State on Tuesday afternoon at Benedetti Diamond.
A grand slam by
Brady Bate highlighted a six-run sixth inning for the Dons (19-19), which was followed by five more runs in the seventh to help put the game away. Bate led the offense by going 4-for-5 with six RBI on the day, the most in a game since Zack Turner's five RBI at BYU in 2013. The grand slam was Bate's second of the year after hitting a walk-off grand slam against Loyola Marymount on Mar. 18.
Harrison Bruce came off the bench to drive in two runs and
Allen Smoot went 2-for-3 with an RBI double and a run scored.
The offense was aided by a Sacramento State bullpen that fell into a tailspin as the game wore on. The Dons scored their six runs in the sixth inning off of just one hit after putting the first five hitters on with two hit-by-pitches, two walks and a fielder's choice that resulted in a throwing error before Bate stepped up and clobbered the first pitch of new reliever Jonny Palsha's outing.
"We came up with some really big hits today," head coach
Nino Giarratano said. "Six RBI in a game is a big day for anybody, so I'm really excited for Brady. I've really felt like offensively we've been underachieving for a while and this was good to break out today."
Dominic Miroglio's hit-by-pitch and Bruce's walk both came with the bases loaded in the sixth.
Riley Helland's single started the seventh inning rally, which helped setup RBI singles by Bate and
Ross Puskarich before
Matt Sinatro drew a bases loaded walk,
Nico Giarratano lifted a sacrifice fly and Smoot doubled home Puskarich to give the Dons a 13-6 lead.
USF starter
Benji Post lasted just 2 2/3 innings, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits with a walk and a pair of strikeouts. But the Dons' bullpen stepped up with the lead in hand, getting four scoreless innings out of
Thomas Ponticelli,
Daniel Slominski and
Brendan Jenkins, who combined to allow just one hit while striking out five.
"I think going to Slominski and getting the zero, and going to Ponticelli and getting the zero and then getting two zeroes out of Jenkins was the difference in the game," Giarratano said. "Once we get the lead this is a way different team. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come for us."
Sacramento State (18-19) plated runs in each of the first three innings on a Vinny Esposito solo home run in the first, a first and third double steal in the second and Andrew McWilliams' two-out RBI double in the third.
The Hornets then jumped out to a 6-1 lead on Kody Reynolds' three-run homer in the top of the fifth off
Joey Carney.
Michael Perri's run-scoring groundout helped get the Dons on the board in the bottom of the fourth, followed by Bate's RBI double laced down the left field line in the fifth that brought USF within four.
The Dons tacked on an insurance run in the eighth with Bruce's RBI single up the middle.
USF returns to WCC action this weekend when they travel south to take on Santa Clara in a three-game series from Stephen Schott Stadium. First pitch for the series opener will be at 6 p.m. on Friday.
