Game No. 46-48
San Francisco Dons (22-23, 14-7 WCC) vs. Pepperdine Waves (22-20, 12-6 WCC)
May 2-3 | 11 a.m., 2 p.m., 1 p.m.
Benedetti Diamond | San Francisco, Calif.
LIVE STATS | VIDEO
 
SAN FRANCISCO—After dropping a series at BYU, the Dons return home to keep their first place standing when they host Pepperdine for three beginning on Saturday.
 
TIGHT AT THE TOP
After dropping three games at BYU, the Dons find themselves on a tight race for the top spot in the West Coast Conference. San Francisco (14-7), San Diego (14-7), and Pepperdine (12-6) are in a three-way tie in first place with Loyola Marymount (13-8) one back and BYU (11-7) 1.5 games back. USF has six WCC games remaining and will play all of them at home with three against Pepperdine and three vs. Loyola Marymount.
 
#OddYear
The Dons have only six WCC games remaining and are in a three-way tie with San Diego and Pepperdine for first place in the West Coast Conference. San Francisco won the WCC regular season championship in 2011 and reached the NCAA Regional in 2011 and 2013. Much like their Major League counterpart (San Francisco Giants), the Dons have put together postseason runs in alternating years. The top four teams in the WCC qualify for the WCC Championship Tournament at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton, Calif., which is slated to begin on May 21.
 
MIROGLIO ON JOHNNY BENCH WATCH LIST
Sophomore catcher Dominic Miroglio has been a difference maker on offense and defense for the Dons this season and was honored by being named to the Johnny Bench Award Watch List. The Johnny Bench Award is given to the best Division I catcher in the nation. Miroglio is hitting .366 with three home runs and a league leading 36 RBI and is throwing out 46 percent of runners. He leads all WCC catchers in batting average, RBI, and caught stealing percentage.
 
CECILIO ON FIRE
Christian Cecilio has quickly turned into one of the better pitchers in the country. Since the beginning of West Coast Conference play where he has thrown 61.1 innings, including four complete game shutouts, and has an ERA of 1.32. The senior was named the West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week on Mar. 30 after throwing a complete game shutout at AT&T Park against Saint Mary's. He has a season ERA of 1.82.
 
STARTED AT THE BOTTOM, NOW WE'RE HERE
The Dons started the season by dropping their first 10 games, all in the month of February, but since then have gone 22-13 (.628) and have reached the .500 mark. Since the calendar has flipped past February, USF is 8-5 at home and 13-7 away from Benedetti Diamond.
 
EATON NAMED PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Michael Eaton was instrumental in the three-game sweep of San Diego and helped the Dons to an overall 4-1 record. His .444 average with four doubles and six RBI earned him West Coast Conference Rawlings Player of the Week honors on Apr. 20. The redshirt junior is the first Dons player to win the award since Bradley Zimmer on Mar. 3, 2014.
 
INNINGS EATERS
Christian Cecilio and Anthony Shew have thrown more innings than anyone in the conference. Cecilio (88.2 IP) and Shew (78.0) are first and fourth respectively in innings pitched in the WCC.
 
SMILING SAM GRANOFF
Redshirt freshman Sam Granoff has been a welcomed surprise for the Dons so far this season. He has a team-best 1.44 ERA, has thrown 40.2 innings over his last six starts with a 1.32 ERA. He had a stretch from Mar. 24 to Apr. 12 where he did not allow a run for 22 innings. Two of the starts have come against ranked teams (No. 8 Orgeon, No. 24 California).
 
DUCK SEASON
The Dons have played their best baseball of the season over the last few days and it resulted in two wins over No. 8 Oregon at PK Park in Eugene, Ore. Sheldon Lee went 5.1 shutout innings in the opener to pick up the 4-1 win. In the second game, Brendan Hendriks and Derek Atkinson both drove in two and Sam Granoff kept the Ducks off balance as he went 6.1 innings and allowed two earned runs as part of the 8-2 victory.
 
CAGING THE GOLDEN BEARS
Sam Granoff was masterful against No. 24 California on Tuesday and he went 7+ innings, allowing one run on eight hits. Nico Giarratano had the game-winning hit with a two-run double in the eighth inning to put the Dons on top 3-1.
 
#DonsOTR
San Francisco has a grueling schedule that will have the team away from home for 36 of the team's 55 games, including a stretch of 12 straight and 19 of 23 to start the season. It will include trips to Texas Tech, New Mexico, Oregon, and Gonzaga.
 
TOUGH NON-CONFERENCE SLATE
The Dons may have one of the tougher non-conference schedules in the country. They play eight games against teams that are ranked in the top 35 in the country (Texas Tech, Oregon, Stanford), according to the NCBWA, and an additional five games against teams receiving votes. All the games against ranked teams will also be on the road.
 
HENDRIKS NAMED TOP 100 SENIOR
After a season where he was second on the team in slugging at .493, Brendan Hendriks has been named to Baseball America's Top 100 Seniors list and came in at 91. The senior from Alberta, Canada hit a career-high six home runs with 39 RBI in 2014, including a game-winner in the 19th inning at No. 2 Cal State Fullerton and a two-home run game against California.
 
GIARRATANO MOVING UP THE CHARTS
Head coach Nino Giarratano enters his 17th season at USF and has accumulated 479 wins over that time, which is the most in school history and is the third most in West Coast Conference history. He sits behind only John Cunningham (524, San Diego) and current San Diego and former USF coach Rich Hill (691).