SANTA CARA, Calif. – Sophomore right-hander Thomas Ponticelli kept his momentum going by notching his first career complete game to help lead the USF baseball team to a 4-2 win over Santa Clara on Saturday evening from Stephen Schott Stadium.
 
By fanning 10 Santa Cara hitters on the night, Ponticelli (2-1) became the first Don to record a double digit strikeout performance since Christian Cecilio against Portland on April 11, 2015. It was also the first USF complete game since James Kannenberg against San Diego last season.
 
At the plate, Matt Sinatro stayed hot by going 2-for-5 with a two-run triple in the seventh, while Ross Puskarich added his second home run of the year in the top of the eighth.
 
Ponticelli allowed 11 hits but just two runs without walking a batter over 101 pitches. His night started out rocky, however, as he surrendered base hits to the first three Broncos hitters he faced, eventually allowing a run to cross when he hit Tyler Meditz with the bases loaded. A couple of nice defensive plays to cut down a runner at home and an inning-ending 1-2-3 double play helped bail Ponticelli out of the first frame with the Dons trailing 1-0.  
 
"Thomas got into trouble in the first and wasn't really sharp," head coach Nino Giarratano said. "Then we made two good defensive plays to get out of inning. From that point on he was sharp. Outside of that first inning he was fantastic."
 
USF (20-20, 6-11 WCC) stranded runners in scoring position in the first and left runners on base in each of the first three innings until taking advantage of a Santa Clara miscue in the top of the fourth when Michael Perri scored on a two-out error by the Bronco second baseman that tied the game at 1-1.
 
Sinatro eventually put the Dons ahead when he followed a Brady Bate hit-by-pitch and a Harrison Bruce single with a two-run triple to left center in the top of the seventh.    
 
Santa Clara (8-29, 4-10 WCC) hung around by plating a run in the bottom of the eighth off Jake Brodt's RBI single that cut the USF lead to 3-2.
 
But Puskarich gave the Dons all the breathing room they would need when he connected for a solo shot to left center to lead off the ninth.
 
"We actually struggled offensively tonight," Giarratano said. "Their guy was really good. We got that big hit tonight from Sinatro and we had six takeaways on defense, where we played really well. We were pretty fortunate. Sinatro did it with the bat, the glove and the arm tonight; he was great."
 
Ponticelli allowed an infield single in the bottom of an otherwise flawless ninth to close out the victory and give the Dons a chance at their second consecutive series win as the two teams square off in the rubber match on Sunday at 1 p.m. Right-hander Daniel Slominski (3-4, 3.81 ERA) will toe the rubber for USF, while Santa Clara will send out righty Jacob Steffens (2-4, 4.97).