SAN FRANCISCO – After seeing flashes of strong performances throughout the last couple weeks, the USF baseball team finally combined timely hitting with a standout pitching performance to claim an 8-1 victory over Saint Mary's on Sunday afternoon at Benedetti Diamond.
 
Matt Sinatro led the Dons (15-17, 3-9 WCC) at the plate, going 2-for-5 with three RBI – while adding an acrobatic catch out in left field in the first inning. Allen Smoot went 2-for-4 and drove in a run with an RBI double in the seventh. Dominic Miroglio and Dan James each tallied a pair of hits as well.
 
Right-hander Daniel Slominski (2-3) did his part to keep Saint Mary's in check by limiting the Gaels to just one run over eight innings, allowing seven hits while issuing four walks and matching his season high with eight strikeouts.
 
"Great for him," head coach Nino Giarratano said. "[Slominski] struggled a little bit, but then made really big pitches with runners in scoring position. He got sharper as he went. I wouldn't say he was extremely sharp, but he competed really well today."
 
Slominski, who gave up his only run on Zach Kirtley's first-inning solo home run, was able to work out of jams in the sixth and seventh innings by getting inning-ending strikeouts to strand two runners in both frames.
 
Offensively, USF took advantage of their opportunities by going 6-for-12 with runners in scoring position and driving in five of their eight runs with two outs.
 
"The two-out hits are big," added Giarratano. "That's the difference right there. We finally got a couple breaks and we used them."
 
Sinatro plated two runs with a two-out single up the middle in the bottom of the fourth and added another two-out run-scoring base hit in the eighth. Smoot's RBI double in the seventh came with two down and Nico Giarratano drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth with two outs.  
 
Joey Carney came on and closed it out in the ninth by giving up a leadoff double to Brett Rasso before going on to strikeout the side.
 
Saint Mary's (20-11, 5-4 WCC) was led by Rasso's 3-for-4 day at the plate, while starter Drew Strotman (3-1) took the loss after working 6.2 innings, allowing six runs on 10 hits while striking out six.    
 
With the win, the Dons snap a six-game skid and avoid their second sweep in as many weekends.
 
A midweek matchup at Fresno State awaits at 6:05 p.m. on Tuesday, followed by another WCC home series against Portland starting on Thursday afternoon.