STOCKTON, Calif.—Anthony Shew battled on the mound through eight innings and kept USF in the game, which allowed the offense come from behind on multiple occasions, as they used three runs in the middle innings to pull away from Pacific 7-6 on Friday night.  
 
"Any time you can win on the road, it's a good win," San Francisco head coach Nino Giarratano said. "They battled back. We took the lead three times and finally we got it for the fourth time and that was enough.
 
"I'm excited about what we did offensively, taking the lead early, adding to the lead. We had multiple contributions. Good at bats from the top of the order. It's what we need to do if we're going to be successful in conference."
 
The Dons nearly squandered a chance to go ahead in the sixth but it ended up being the turning point of the game.
 
Manny Ramirez, Jr. led off the inning with a walk but was gunned down at second on a failed hit-and-run. Ross Puskarich then slapped a double down the rightfield line, followed by a single to left by Michael Eaton, and a passed ball gave the Dons runners at second and third with one down.
 
Connor Hofmann came up following a strikeout and on a 3-2 count with the runners going, he lined a one hopper just to the right of the shortstop and the throw was wide, which allowed both runners to score and put USF up 6-5.
 
It was one of three hits of the night for the senior outfielder.
 
San Francisco got an insurance run in the seventh when Brendan Hendriks hit a solo home run to right for the 7-5 lead.
 
Hendriks went 2-for-4 with two RBI on the night.
 
USF starter Anthony Shew, who had struggled through the first four innings against Pacific, settled down and ended his outing with four shutout innings as he allowed five runs in 8.1 innings with nine strikeouts.
 
"It was very impressive by him," said Giarratano. "He stayed with it mentally. He found the changeup. He found the breaking pitch. That could have blown up our bullpen but he kept on slugging."
 
The Tigers had one final chance and scored on a triple and an RBI single to make it a one-run game but Logan West came in from the bullpen, got a pop up, and a diving over the shoulder catch from Michael Eaton to end the contest.
 
"It is always good to win on Friday, take a deep breath and know we can win the series tomorrow," said Giarratano.
 
San Francisco will continue the series against Pacific on Saturday at 2 p.m. with left hander Christian Cecilio on the mound.
 
The Dons wasted no time in getting on the board in the first against Pacific. After a leadoff single from Connor Hofmann, the Dons executed a hit-and-run as Nico Giarratano slapped a double down the leftfield line and Hofmann came across to give them a 1-0 lead.
 
One game after having the game-winning hit against No. 24 California, Giarratano went 2-for-4 against Pacific.
 
"Glad to see him get going," Nino Giarratano said. "Solid day for him offensively."
 
Two batters later, Dominic Miroglio ripped one into left for a base hit and it brought home Giarratano and put USF up by two.
 
Pacific got even in the bottom half of the inning on three two-out hits, including an RBI double from cleanup man Gio Brusa, tying it at 2-2. The Tigers tacked on another in the second to take a one-run lead.
 
In the third, the Dons put together a rally when Giarratano reached on a single to center and Derek Atkinson got aboard on a slow roller to third and set it up for Brendan Hendriks. On a 0-2 count, the senior sent the pitch into rightfield for an RBI single and tied it back up at three.
 
Miroglio came up with runners at the corners and one down and bounced a ball to the second but Miroglio beat out the back end of the double play, which allowed another run to cross and give USF a 4-3 lead.
 
NOTES
Sophomore Blake Valley beat out a ground ball to the shortstop in the eighth and went 1-for-4 on the night. It was his first career hit.