SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. – The USF baseball team lost both games of a doubleheader on Friday at Cal Poly's Baggett Stadium. The Dons lost 2-1 on a walk-off hit in game one and dropped the nightcap by a 10-5 tally.
 
GAME 1 – Cal Poly 2, USF 1
Cal Poly (9-2) took game one in walk-off fashion with an RBI single by Cooper Moore in the bottom of the ninth.
 
The Mustangs started the bottom of the ninth with three straight singles off of USF reliever James Kannenberg with John Schuknecht's single scoring the tying run. Then, following a sacrifice bunt, Cal Poly had runners at second and third, prompting Kannenberg to intentionally walk Michael Sanderson to load the bases with one out. The next batter, Moore, delivered the knockout blow with a single to left center.
 
"I think we're pretty close," said head coach Nino Giarratano. "I thought we played pretty well in the first game. We carried the lead into the ninth inning, we just didn't make any pitches. They just hit; they hit in the ninth inning and took the momentum from there."
 
Kannenberg (0-1) took the loss after coming on in the ninth and recording one out before allowing the game-winning hit. Altogether, he allowed two runs on four hits with a walk.
 
USF starter Anthony Shew turned in one of the best outings of the year for the Dons, throwing seven shutout innings and scattering four hits, while issuing two walks and striking out three in the no-decision.
 
"Anthony was great," added Giarratano. "He gave up zero and gave us a chance to win through seven innings. I also really like what Frank [Waliczek] did in the eighth. That's kind of his role, he goes in there for one inning and gives us a chance."
 
Beau Bozett had a hit and scored USF's lone run in game one.
 
The Dons (2-10) didn't pick up their first hit until the top of the fourth when Blake Valley got on with an infield single.
 
Cal Poly threatened in the bottom of the sixth, getting runners on first and third with two outs, but Shew got Schuknecht to fly out to escape the jam with the game still scoreless.
 
USF finally broke the stalemate in the top of the eighth when Aaron Ping's single to left center with one out plated Beau Bozett to give the Dons a 1-0 advantage.
 
Frank Waliczek came on for the Dons in the bottom half of the eighth and kept Cal Poly in check by striking out two of the three hitters he faced in his lone inning of work.
 
Brett Barbier (2-for-4, RBI), Kyle Marinconz (2-for-3, R) and Schuknecht (2-for-4, RBI) led the way for Cal Poly offensively.
 
Cal Poly starter Kyle Smith picked up the victory with eight innings of one-run ball, allowing just three hits, while walking two and striking out eight.  
 
 
 
GAME 2 – Cal Poly 10, USF 5
In game two, Cal Poly plated four runs in the first three innings, went scoreless the next three, and scored six in the seventh to put the game out of reach.
 
Riley Helland had a career-high three hits in game two, while Harrison Bruce went 3-for-4. Ross Puskarich turned in a 2-for-5 day at the plate while hitting a few balls squarely that were caught. Aaron Ping (2-for-4) and Matt Sinatro (2-for-4, R, RBI) also recorded multi-hit performances for the Dons.
 
Chase Gardner (0-1) was saddled with his first loss of the year after going just 2.2 innings in his third start. Gardner allowed four runs on five hits while striking out one and walking three.
 
Benji Post enjoyed his second straight scoreless outing in relief, tossing 3.1 innings, scattering five hits and allowing one walk while striking out two.
 
"I really liked what we got out of Benji Post," said Giarratano. "I thought he pitched pretty well, but we gave up six in the seventh inning where we just collapsed. That's kind of been the problem for us – we stay close and then we have that collapse. I thought we were one pitch away in the ninth (in game one) from winning the ballgame, and I thought we were one inning away in game two.
 
"I really like how the kids played hard; I like how we battled back. I really like what we did offensively in game two; we gave ourselves chances to win had we pitched well enough in the seventh."  
 
The Mustangs got on the board with a two-out RBI triple by John Schuknecht in the bottom of the first.
 
In the next half inning, USF loaded the bases with no outs, but a run-scoring 5-4-3 double play was all the Dons could muster out of the situation, tying the game at 1-1.
 
The Mustangs used a two-out, three-run rally to take a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the third. Chase Gardner fell behind 3-1 to Schuknecht with a runner on third before Schuknecht lined a double down the left field line. Kyle Marinconz followed with a triple off the right field wall, while Michael Sanderson dropped in a looping single to left field that capped off the rally.
 
The top of the fifth saw the Dons mount their best threat by loading the bases behind back-to-back singles by Matt Sinatro and Harrison Bruce to leadoff the inning, leading to Nico Giarratano's RBI groundout that cut the Cal Poly lead to 4-2. With two outs and the bases loaded, Ross Puskarich went down looking.
 
Cal Poly exploded for a six-run inning in the bottom of the seventh. The Mustangs started off the inning by stringing five consecutive hits – including a bloop single down the left field line and a high infield chopper - off USF reliever Mack Meyer to start the rally, which ended with a 10-2 Cal Poly lead. Among the run-scoring hits was a two-run triple into the right field corner from Sanderson and a two-run double by Alex McKenna.
 
The Dons scored a run in the top of the eighth when Matt Sinatro laced a single that was misplayed by left fielder Josh George, allowing Puskarich to score from first on the two-base error, cutting the Cal Poly lead to 10-3.  
 
USF put up a fight in the top of the ninth by pushing across two runs on a Riley Helland RBI single and a Kyle Norman RBI groundout, but the deficit proved too deep.
 
Justin Calomeni (2-0) earned the win for Cal Poly in relief, throwing 2.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits with one walks and five strikeouts.
 
Sanderson (4-for-5, R, 3 RBI) had a big game two for the Mustangs, while McKenna (3-for-4, 3 R, 2 RBI) and Schuknecht (3-for-5, 2 R, 2 RBI) tallied three-hit games.
 
 
NOTES: The Dons' four hits in game one were a season low, while their 16 hits in game two marked a season high… the Dons are now 1-3 in one-run games this year… Anthony Shew's seven-inning outing was the longest for a Don pitcher this season.
 
UP NEXT: The Dons and Mustangs will conclude the three-game series on Saturday with a 1 p.m. contest from Baggett Stadium. RHP James Kannenberg (0-1) is slated to take the mound for USF.