SAN FRANCISCO—Junior right hander Anthony Shew continued his incredible stretch by going eight strong innings as he led the Dons to a close 3-1 West Coast Conference win over Saint Mary's on Friday afternoon.
 
"Our starter again gave up one run over eight innings. We keep pitching like that, we don't need a whole lot of offense but we got enough offense today and from the right people again," San Francisco head coach Nino Giarratano said. "We did what we needed to do to get a win on Friday. It wasn't pretty but it wasn't pretty for them either. We were pretty fortunate."
 
Shew had to dance out of danger and found himself in a couple of jams throughout the middle innings.
 
In the fourth, Saint Mary's had a runner advance to third with one out but Shew was able to induce a shallow fly ball and a groundball to short to end the inning. Two innings later, the Gaels loaded the bases with two outs but Shew got the strikeout to escape the threat.
 
For the fifth time this season, Shew went at least eight innings and allowed one run on eight hits while striking out six.
 
With the Dons already up 2-1 in the eighth, they added an insurance run when Brendan Hendriks delivered a fly ball to the warning track in right center that allowed Connor Hofmann to score and give them a two-run cushion.

It was one of two RBI on the day for Hendriks.
 
USF went to the bullpen to finish off the game and Matt Narahara came in for the ninth. Saint Mary's got a double with one out, which put the tying run at the plate. Two pitches later, the runner took off for third and Dons catcher Dominic Miroglio fired a strike to third to get the runner and ended the final scoring chance for the Gaels.
 
The Dons will return to action on Saturday against Saint Mary's during the 10th Annual Dante Benedetti Classic at AT&T Park. Game time is at 3 p.m.
 
"A lot of people have done a lot of work to get the Dante Benedetti Classic going and continuing and giving the kids an opportunity to play at the ballpark," Giarratano said. "I just hope we can settle in early at the game and play baseball, instead of sightsee."
 
Hofmann got the Dons started in the bottom of the first when he roped a ball into the left center and raced around first to hustle into second for a leadoff double. After an errant pickoff throw allowed Hofmann to advance to third, Brendan Hendriks came up and laced a single to center to bring home the run and put USF up 1-0.
 
Saint Mary's answered in the second when they got a one-out single to left and it brought home the tying run. The Gaels had runners at first and second with one out when a fly ball was hit into shallow right and Hofmann came in, made a sliding catch, and threw to second for a double play.
 
"He picked us up all day today," Giarratano said of Hofmann. "Picked us up with the glove, picked us up with the bat. It was good for us."
 
Matt Sinatro was the offense for the Dons in the third. After sending a pop up just over the third baseman's head for a leadoff single, Sinatro stole second and the throw from the Saint Mary's catcher went into right centerfield and the Dons sophomore was able to come all the way around to score to retake the lead.
 
"Sinatro did a great job in the 9-hole for us today and at third base," Giarratano said. "It was a different team with Matt out there, a little more athletic, feet move a little bit quicker. It was a great job by him."