PROVO, Utah – The USF baseball team fell into a hole right off the bat and couldn't dig themselves out as they suffered a 19-6 loss in the series opener at BYU's Miller Field on Thursday evening.
 
Nico Giarratano and Dan James each collected a pair of hits for the Dons, who struck first with Allen Smoot's RBI single in the top of the first that scored Giarratano after he reached on a throwing error by BYU catcher Bronson Larsen on a dropped third strike.
 
But the lead would be short-lived as the Dons (22-21, 7-12 WCC) trailed 6-1 after a big first inning for BYU in which the Cougars touched up USF starter Grant Goodman (3-4) for six runs on six hits while taking advantage of a pair of throwing errors by Michael Perri and Allen Smoot in the opening frame.  
 
"Obviously, it was not a good loss," head coach Nino Giarratano said. "We didn't pitch very well in the first third of the game. We had a great outing from Grant Young to help keep us in the game, but overall it was tough tonight. Offensively I thought we were pretty good. We had some guys that were close tonight."
 
BYU got the first three hitters aboard in their half of the first inning with a pair of singles and a walk before the back-to-back errors allowed the Cougars to take the lead. Brock Hale and Nate Favero contributed RBI singles for the Cougars and Kyle Dean added a two-run triple in the inning.
 
The deficit proved too much to rally back from as BYU (23-14, 12-4 WCC) continued the scoring with runs in the second, third and fifth innings as well.  
 
Five runs in the seventh and four more in the eighth allowed BYU to put the game well out of reach, despite USF plating a pair of runs in the top of the seventh when James ripped an RBI single and Giarratano pushed across a run with an infield single. Ross Puskarich had singled, followed by a Brady Bate walk to help setup the scoring opportunity as both came around to score on the base hits.
 
Young, a freshman, threw a season-high four innings out of the bullpen in relief of Goodman as he tried to keep the Dons afloat, but was unable to contain one of the WCC's best offensive clubs in BYU.
 
The Dons went down swinging, however, scoring three more in the top of the ninth. A leadoff walk by Aaron Ping and a double by James led to Tyler Villaroman's RBI single and Matt Campos' sacrifice fly. Villaroman eventually scored on a wild pitch by BYU reliever Connor Williams to tally the Dons' final run.
 
"We're in a good spot tomorrow with [Thomas] Ponticelli throwing," Giarratano added. "I still think we have a good chance to win the series."
 
USF and BYU continue the three-game series on Friday evening with another 5 p.m. (PT) start. Right-hander Thomas Ponticelli (2-1, 2.01) will take the ball for USF, while BYU will send out righty Brady Corless (5-0, 4.17) in game two.