University of San Francisco Athletics

Box Score

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SAN FRANCISCO—Derek Atkinson is no stranger to walk-off hits and he proved that again on Tuesday afternoon.
 
The Dons (2-2) entered the ninth trailing Kansas State 6-4 and used five hits in the final frame to score three times with the final one being an RBI single to center by Atkinson to score Nico Giarratano to give them the thrilling 7-6 victory.
 
"There's a lot to be said about being at home and getting to hit last. We put it together there right at the end and got it done," San Francisco head coach Nino Giarratano said.
 
Harrison Bruce led off the inning with a single to left, his third hit of the day, which brought the top of the order up. Matt Sinatro promptly ripped the ball down the line and Kansas State leftfielder Max Brown misplayed the ball, allowing Bruce to score all the way from first and Sinatro to move to second.
 
Then Giarratano singled passed the diving Kansas State first baseman Shane Conlon to score Sinatro and tied the game at six.
 
Two batters later, Zack Turner singled to right and Giarratano took third to set the table for Atkinson. He waited little time and had his single drop just in front of the centerfielder to score Giarratano for the win.
 
"Big at bats by Harrison Bruce all day today. Sinatro had good at bats. We put the ball in play there," Nino Giarratano said. "Give it to Turner. He had a tough day going into his last at bat but that's the kind of player he is. He's ready to go at the end of the game. That's all you got to do."
 
The game could have slipped away in the eighth.
 
With USF still trailing by one in the eighth, the Dons got into some trouble. Kansas State loaded the bases with no outs and Yagi hit a shot into deep left center but Zimmer made a sliding catch to limit the Wildcats to a sacrifice fly as they took a 6-4 lead.
 
They did not score again in the inning.
 
"I can't say enough about the play that Bradley Zimmer made with bases loaded. That was a game-changer," Giarratano said. "Bradley limiting that to one run and Sheldon Lee coming in and getting us out of there in two pitches, it gave us some momentum and used the momentum in the ninth inning when we got the leadoff guy on. We got a break by them misplaying the ball in leftfield and we capitalized."
 
Lee (1-0) pitched the final 1.2 innings and recorded five groundouts.
 
The Dons will have two days off before taking on No. 1 Cal State Fullerton this weekend in Southern California.
 
Kansas State took advantage of a dropped popup by Nico Giarratano in the first inning when with the bases loaded and two outs, Mitch Meyer hit a double down the leftfield line and put the Wildcats up 2-0.
 
Grant Goodman, who was making his first career appearance, was able to rebound and kept the Wildcats scoreless in the second and third, including a third inning where he struck out the side.
 
The Dons also capitalized on a Kansas State miscue. Derek Atkinson reached first on an error by second baseman Ross Kivett and two batters later, Brendan Hendriks hit a booming double off the wall in left centerfield to score his teammate and cut the K-State lead to 2-1.
 
Kansas State got a boost when in the fourth, Kivett hit a towering fly ball above the yellow line on the leftfield net for a two-run home run to give it the 4-1 lead.
 
The home run ended Goodman's day after he went 3.1 innings and gave up four runs, two earned, on three hits with five strikeouts.
 
Kansas State starter Landon Busch went four innings and allowed one unearned run.
 
Jake Fromson entered for the Wildcats and the Dons jumped on him immediately. Sinatro led off the inning with a single and two batters later Bradley Zimmer drilled a line drive off the wall in the rightfield corner to score the freshman second baseman, cutting the lead to 4-2.
 
USF struck again with two outs on a RBI single to center by Atkinson cutting Kansas State's lead to one.