FRESNO, Calif.  – For seven innings it seemed like the Dons were going to go out with a whimper in their season finale before roaring back with a six-run eighth that helped secure a 6-3 victory and a series win over Mountain West-champions Fresno State on Saturday afternoon at Pete Beiden Field.
 
"We knew that Fresno State was a good team," said head coach Nino Giarratano. "This was a good test for us and is a positive for us going in the right direction heading into the offseason. After bouncing back numerous times throughout the series, I thought it showed a lot of character. I guess playing 45 games on the road will add some character."
 
Allen Smoot collected a pair of hits and drove in two, while Nico Giarratano tallied two RBI of his own.
 
After Smoot's single in the first, the Dons didn't record another hit until Harrison Bruce singled in the eighth and only had two baserunners until that point.
 
A wild six-run eighth inning saw USF (22-34, 14-13 WCC) pull ahead after trailing 2-0 for most of the game. Brady Bate started it off by scoring from third on a wild pitch by Edgar Gonzalez with one out. The next batter, Aaron Ping, struck out swinging on a ball in the dirt, but ended up reaching first thanks to the wild pitch on a play that would prove to be vital later in the inning.
 
After Matt Sinatro drew a walk from new Fresno State pitcher Rickey Ramirez to load the bases, Giarratano bounced a slow chopper toward the middle of the diamond. Sinatro collided with Bulldog second baseman Korby Batesole right as Batesole was charging in to field the ball. The runner from third, Bruce, scored on the play and was followed by Ping racing around from second as the ball lay on the infield dirt. Ping just slid under catcher Joe Prior's tag for the go-ahead run.
 
Smoot then helped add some insurance with a two-out, two-run double into the left-center gap, followed by Ross Puskarich's RBI single that gave the Dons a 6-2 advantage.
 
"I just felt like it was a matter of time," said Giarratano. "If we kept putting good swings on it, something was going to fall for us. We did some good things in that inning. We got lucky that the catcher couldn't find the ball on that wild pitch. We put a ball in play with the bases loaded, which we've talked about all year, and it worked out for us."
 
USF righty James Kannenberg (7-5) closed out his 2016 campaign with his seventh quality start of the year. He matched his season low in allowing just two hits over seven complete innings while surrendering two runs with four strikeouts and three walks.   
 
Fresno State (36-20) got to Kannenberg for one run in the bottom of the first after Kannenberg walked leadoff hitter Zach Ashford, who eventually came around to score on Kevin Viers' RBI ground out.
 
Another leadoff walk and a double put runners on second and third in the bottom of the fourth for the Bulldogs, setting up Prior's sacrifice fly that gave Fresno State a 2-0 lead.
 
"I thought Kannenberg was really good," said Giarratano. "If he hadn't hit the guy and walked the guy I don't think they would have scored either.
 
Bulldogs' starter Tim Borst allowed a single to Smoot in the first inning before going on to retire the next 13 USF hitters in a row until he was relieved by Dylan Lee to start the sixth.
 
Matt Sinatro reached on a catcher's interference call in the sixth, becoming the Dons' first baserunner since the first inning, but he was thrown out trying to steal second two pitches later.
 
Sinatro took a hit away from McCarthy Tatum to start the bottom of the eighth, tracking down the deep fly ball to make a reaching catch on the run on the warning track.
 
"I thought the key to the series was that we played good defense at their place," said Giarratano. "If you pitch like we did this weekend and play defense like we did, you have a chance to win a lot of games."
 
Joey Steele came on in relief of Kannenberg to throw a scoreless eighth.
 
Frank Waliczek started the ninth, striking out the first batter he saw before allowing a walk and a base hit. Joey Carney came out of the bullpen with runners on second and third with one out and threw a wild pitch that allowed a run to score, but closed out the win by retiring the next two hitters.
 
Gonzalez (2-3) was on the hook for the loss, allowing three runs in two-thirds of an inning in the eighth.
 
Ashford, Viers, Prior and Jake Stone tallied the Bulldogs' four hits in the game, a season-low for the Dons pitching staff.   
 
 
NOTES: 1B Ross Puskarich ended the season riding a 17-game hitting streak, the longest on the team this season… SS Nico Giarratano wrapped up the campaign in the midst of his own 11-game hitting streak… the series loss was the first home series Fresno State dropped the entire year.