University of San Francisco Athletics

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SAN FRANCISCO—UC Santa Barbara jumped out to an early first inning lead and the Dons could not bounce back as they dropped the second game of the series 6-0 on Saturday afternoon.
 
Christian Cecilio surrendered two runs in the first inning but then began to find his rhythm. He retired nine in a row after a single in the first and got the Dons into the eighth inning for the second consecutive start and for the seventh time this season.
 
"Any time you don't get off to a clean start, it's tough. He wasn't as sharp as he needed to be early on," San Francisco head coach Nino Giarratano said. "After that, he really pitched well. He had 19 0-2 counts today and he pitched well, well enough to keep us in the game."
 
Since Mar. 30, Cecilio has gone at least 7.1 innings in six of his eight starts. On Saturday, he went 7.1 innings and allowed six runs (five earned) on seven hits while striking out eight.
 
The Dons' bats were stymied by UC Santa Barbara starter Austin Pettibone, who threw a complete game shutout and allowed five hits while striking out 10. San Francisco got the leadoff batter on twice in the game but had both erased on double plays.
 
Bradley Zimmer picked up a single in the seventh and extended his modest hit streak to seven games. He has also had at least one hit in 11 of the last 12 games.
 
USF will return to action on Sunday for Senior Day, in which Zack Turner, Michael Kathan, Jesse DeLong, Ben Graff, Houston Hibberd and Abe Bobb will play their final Sunday on the Hilltop. Bobb, who has won 17 games in his USF career (T-4th most in USF history), will make the start.
 
"They've put in a lot to this game and they love the game of baseball, all six guys have graduated from college," Giarratano said. "Perfect colors right there. Any time you bring in six kids and they all graduate, you're happy about that and happy what they've done in their careers. They've won some games, they've played in some postseason tournaments and they've had a great experience... Later on, they'll look back and hopefully they have great memories of the friends they've made, they people they've met and the opportunity they had to compete as Division I athletes."
 
The ceremonies will begin at 12:45 p.m. at Benedetti Diamond and can be seen on USFDons.com/LIVE.