MORAGA, Calif.  – Scoring early can sometimes be both a blessing and a curse as the Dons realized on Saturday afternoon when USF took a 6-0 lead after the second inning and had to fend off a five-run eighth inning surge by Saint Mary's to earn a 6-5 win over the Gaels at Louis Guisto Field.
 
Nico Giarratano clubbed a pair of doubles, drove in a run and scored twice to lead the Dons offensively. Allen Smoot picked up two RBI of his own and scored a run.
 
Freshman right-hander Thomas Ponticelli carried a no-hitter through the first five frames and improved to 3-4 with the victory, but ran into trouble by surrendering four runs in the eighth. Mack Meyer would end up recording his third save of the year with 1.1 innings in relief of Ponticelli.
 
USF (17-27, 11-9 WCC) wasted no time in getting on the board as Matt Sinatro led off the game with a single and came around to score on Giarratano's double down the right field line in the next at-bat. Later in the inning, Dan James lifted a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to center to give the Dons an early 2-0 lead.
 
USF added to its lead in the top of the second when Smoot lined a two-run single up the middle with runners at second and third and then scored on a fielding error by SMC first baseman Jackson Thoreson. Brady Bate drove in Ross Puskarich two batters later with a single to right field that put USF up 6-0.
 
Ponticelli kept the Saint Mary's offense in check from the beginning, only allowing one baserunner through the first six innings after hitting Charles Zaloumis with a pitch to start the third. The Gaels (23-17, 11-6 WCC) didn't record their first hit off Ponticelli until Zaloumis singled to lead off the sixth. He would be stranded as Ponticelli retired the next three hitters.
 
Saint Mary's finally got to Ponticelli in the eighth by loading the bases with two outs to setup Zach Kirtley's base-clearing double that cut the USF lead to 6-3. That's when head coach Nino Giarratano summoned Meyer from the bullpen with two outs and a runner at second. Kirtley would score when Smoot committed a throwing error on the next at-bat. Anthony Villa followed with an RBI single that brought home the final SMC run before Meyer got Ian McLoughlin to ground out to first base to end the rally.
 
Ponticelli ended up logging a season-best 7.2 innings, allowing four runs on four hits with a pair of walks and seven strikeouts, also a season high.
 
USF chased Saint Mary's starter Johnny York after just two innings. York (4-5) suffered the loss after allowing six runs (four earned) on six hits with two walks and two strikeouts.
 
The Gaels' three relievers – Ty Madrigal, Nathan Simmons and Bryce Reichmann - held USF scoreless and limited the Dons to just three hits throughout the final seven innings.    
 
Kirtley drove in a game-best three runs on the day, while Joey Fiske was the only Gael to record a multi-hit game as he collected a pair of hits. The Gaels' three through seven hitters in the lineup went a combined 1 for 15 in the game.
 
 
 
NOTES: SS Nico Giarratano extended his on-base streak to 18 games - the longest such streak for the Dons this year… OF/IF Matt Sinatro extended his on-base streak to 14 games… RHP Thomas Ponticelli matched Anthony Shew (at Cal Poly, Mar. 4) and James Kannenberg (at Pepperdine, Apr. 3) for the fewest hits allowed in a start this season… this marked the fifth outing in a row that Ponticelli lasted at least six innings… SMC came into Saturday's game alone in first place in the WCC standings, while USF was tied with LMU for fifth.  
 
UP NEXT: The Dons and Gaels play the rubber match on Sunday at 1 p.m. at Louis Guisto Field. Junior righty James Kannenberg (5-3, 3.63) will get the start for the Dons, while Saint Mary's will send out right-hander Cameron Neff (2-2, 4.20). A win would give USF its third consecutive West Coast Conference series victory and allow the Dons to make up another game in the standings on Saint Mary's. Each game of the series can be followed via live stats on SMCGaels.com and a live video stream on TheW.tv.