THIS WEEKEND
USF (27-27, 9-15 WCC) vs. Pacific (17-32, 5-19 WCC)
 
Game 1: Friday, May 19 
Location: Stockton, Calif. (Klein Family Field)
First Pitch: 6 p.m.   
TV/Video: TheW.tv
Stats: StatBroadcast
USF Starter: RHP Thomas Ponticelli (4-1, 1.84) 
UOP Starter: RHP Justin Giovannoni (0-3, 6.23)
 
Game 2: Saturday, May 20 
Location: San Francisco (Benedetti Diamond)
First Pitch: 3 p.m.   
TV/Video: TheW.tv
Stats: StatBroadcast
USF Starter: LHP Scott Parker (5-1, 2.57)
UOP Starter: RHP Cooper Casad (2-4, 5.00)   
 
Game 3: Sunday, May 21
Location: San Francisco (Benedetti Diamond)
First Pitch: 1 p.m.   
TV/Video: TheW.tv
Stats: StatBroadcast
USF Starter: RHP Grant Goodman (3-4, 4.84) 
UOP Starter: LHP Ricky Reynoso (5-6, 3.82)  
 
Complete Game Notes [PDF]

First Pitch
USF (27-27, 9-15 WCC) wraps up the 2017 campaign with a three-game set against Pacific (17-32, 5-19 WCC) this weekend, beginning with a 6 p.m. contest on Friday at UOP's Klein Family Field. The series will head back to San Francisco for a 3 p.m. matchup on Saturday from Benedetti Diamond, followed by a 1 p.m. tilt on Sunday, which will be Senior Day honoring the 13 graduating Dons. USF won three of four this past weekend in nonconference action against San Jose State, while Pacific lost two of three at Santa Clara.    
 
The Dons at a Glance… 
THIS PAST WEEK
• Started the series against San Jose State with a bang, winning 15-0 at home this past Friday. Matt Sinatro and Dominic Miroglio led USF at the plate with four RBIs apiece, while Miroglio homered. Thomas Ponticelli took care of business on the mound with eight shutout innings where he struck out six and did not walk a batter. 
• The Dons were beneficiaries of a walk-off walk in game two, edging the Spartans 3-2 after Harrison Bruce drew a bases-loaded free pass in the bottom of the ninth. Sinatro and Allen Smoot each drove in runs for USF. 
• Nico Giarratano's bases-clearing triple in the fifth inning on Sunday helped lift the Dons to a 7-2 win in San Jose. Benji Post picked up the win in relief with four shutout innings, while Miroglio added his team-leading eighth long ball of the year. 
• In the series finale, the Dons let a 5-0 first-inning lead slip away by committing four errors, walking six batters and hitting two others en route to a 7-6 San Jose State victory. Giarratano drove in a pair of runs and Michael Perri hit his fifth home run of the season.
 

WHO'S HOT?
Allen Smoot continues to swing a hot bat, hitting a team-best .500 (16-32) over the last 10 games entering the series. He has driven in eight runs and is tied for the team lead (w/ Matt Sinatro) with 10 runs scored over that span. Meanwhile, Dominic Miroglio has been a run-producing machine of late, driving in a team-best 13 RBIs over the last 10 contests, including four doubles and three home runs. On the mound, righty Thomas Ponticelli has been a prime performer of late, boasting a 1.67 ERA over his last four starts, going 3-0 during that span with 28 strikeouts over his last 32 1/3 innings while walking just three. He hasn't allowed a run over his last 16 innings coming into the weekend.  

GIARRATANO SNAGS WCC RECORD
Senior shortstop Nico Giarratano broke the WCC career record for defensive assists this past weekend against San Jose State. Giarratano, the reigning WCC Defensive Player of the Year, surpassed LMU's Bob Sheldon, who had racked up 583 assists from 1969-72. Giarratano enters the final series of the season with 592 assists to his credit to go along with a career .969 fielding percentage. 

ZIMMER THE LATEST OF #DONSINTHEPROS
Former USF All-American outfielder Bradley Zimmer (2012-14) made his Major League debut with the Cleveland Indians this past Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays, becoming the 22nd Don to play in the big leagues. Zimmer, a first-round pick of the Indians in 2014, doubled for his first MLB hit in his second game with the Indians and later homered in the same contest. The last USF Major Leaguer was left-hander Aaron Poreda, who made 26 appearances for the Texas Rangers in 2014. 

BETTER STAY PUT
Catcher Dominic Miroglio has been the most difficult catcher in the West Coast Conference to run on this year, leading the WCC with 24 runners caught stealing. He has thrown out 55 percent of would-be base stealers on the year. The redshirt junior was named one of 15 semifinalists for the Johnny Bench Award, which is given annually to the top Division I catcher in the country.  

HIT MACHINE
Allen Smoot has been as steady an offensive presence as the Dons have had this year, ranking among the top-5 in the WCC in on base percentage (.469), hits (72) and batting average (.364)  coming into the weekend, while ranking in the top-10 in RBIs (39), doubles (13) and walks (37). Smoot has registered multiple hits in seven of the last 11 games. Altogether, Smoot leads the team in multi-hit games (23) and is second in multi-RBI games (10).

RECORDS WERE MADE TO BE BROKEN
Already the WCC career leader in defensive assists, Nico Giarratano will wrap up his USF career over among the program's all-time leaders in a number of career categories. With 874 career at-bats coming into the Pacific series, Giarratano has surpassed Tony Hurtado (822) for the most at bats in program history. Giarratano is tied for 10th in career doubles (42) and has 209 career hits, needing two more to break into the top-10 all-time, and 121 career runs scored, two shy of the top-10.

LEGENDARY LEGS
Senior Matt Sinatro has made a career out of getting on base and using his speed to be a difference maker in the Dons' lineup. He has taken over fourth place in program history with 101 career walks entering the weekend, and his 56 career stolen bases are tied for the seventh-most.  

HOME AND AWAY
The Dons have made the most of home field advantage this season, hitting .298 as a team with a 2.62 ERA at Benedetti Diamond, where they are 15-8 on the year. On the contrary, USF has gone just 10-19 on the road where they are hitting .250 with a 4.90 ERA.
 
CATCH AND THROW
The Dons have enjoyed steady defense all year long as they enter the week boasting the conference's best fielding percentage (.977), led by reigning WCC Defensive Player of the Year in shortstop Nico Giarratano, who has committed just three errors in 249 chances coming into the series. Giarratano's 159 defensive assists pace the WCC.   
 
SHUT IT DOWN
Right-hander Thomas Ponticelli comes into the Pacific series with the WCC's second-best ERA (1.84). In 12 appearances - including eight starts - Ponticelli's .214 batting average against ranks as the third-lowest in the WCC this year.
 

Scouting Report
 
About Pacific
The Tigers enter the final weekend of the year after dropping two of three to Santa Clara this past weekend on the road. UOP has lost six of its last eight, but has WCC series victories over Pepperdine and Portland on the year. As a team, the Tigers rank near the bottom of the WCC in most offensive categories, but have hit the fourth-most home runs this season (42), led by freshman catcher/infielder James Free II, who paces the conference with 14 long balls coming into the weekend. Free II also leads the team and ranks among the WCC's top-10 in batting average (.345) and RBIs (48), while leading the WCC in slugging (.673). On the mound, sophomore lefty Ricky Reynoso has anchored the pitching staff with a team-best 68 1/3 innings pitched, going 5-6 with 52 strikeouts and a 3.82 ERA. Meanwhile, senior right-hander Vince Arobio is among the WCC leaders with six saves entering the series.            
 
Series Notes Against Pacific
The Dons are 16-18 against the Tigers during Nino Giarratano's tenure (since 1999). Pacific has captured two of three in each of the last three series. USF's last series victory over the Tigers came in 2011 when the Dons took two of three before UOP had become a member of the WCC.
   
Last Time Out
The Dons took an early five-run lead, but four USF errors on the night helped the host San Jose State Spartans rally back to hand the Dons a 7-6 loss on Monday night in the series finale from Municipal Stadium. Dominic Miroglio and Tyler Villaroman each collected a pair of hits and drove in a run, while Michael Perri hit his fifth home run of the year. USF jumped out to a 5-0 lead after the first inning when the Dons' leadoff hitter, Matt Sinatro, reached on a fielding error by San Jose State third baseman Michael Breen. After stealing second, Sinatro came around to score on Nico Giarratano's RBI single. Miroglio then drove in Giarratano and Allen Smoot walked and scored on Perri's two-run blast, which chased Spartans starter Zach Wallace from the game after just 2/3 of an inning. Right-hander Joey Steele kept San Jose State off the board until the bottom of the fifth when the Spartans took advantage of two USF errors to tie the game at 5-5. Stefanki got aboard with one out when Aaron Ping misplayed a fly ball in right field. Stefanki came around to score two batters later when Kyle Morrison laid down a bunt that was thrown into right field by Steele, allowing a pair of runs to come across. But in the bottom of the seventh, Joey Carney plunked Morrison to start the inning before a two-out fielding error by Giarratano with runners at first and third helped San Jose State tie the game. A wild pitch from Brenden Jenkins allowed the go-ahead run to score in the form of Kellen Strahm, who had walked two batters prior.
 
Fan Guide
                                                         
Promotions
Every Sunday home game this season, the USF Dons are offering the Family 4-Pack. For just $44, fans get 4 reserved seating tickets, 4 Evergood hot dogs, and 4 sodas! Tickets for this Sunday's game can be purchased at USFDons.com.
 
Sunday's game will be the season finale for the Dons and the team's 13 seniors will be honored prior to first pitch.
 
Ticket Information
Individual game tickets for all USF home games at Benedetti Diamond are available online at USFDons.com or by calling (415) 422-2USF. General admission tickets are available for as low as $10, while reserved seats can be purchased for $15. All USFCA faculty, staff and students with a valid ID, and youth 12 and under enter free.
 
Parking Information
Parking on campus for baseball games requires a day-use permit that can be purchased at the parking kiosk in the Hayes-Healy parking lot (located along Golden Gate Ave. in between War Memorial at the Sobrato Center and the Hayes Healy dorms). This permit is also good at the Koret Health and Recreation Center lot (at the corner of Parker Ave. and Turk St.). Street parking is also available around campus, but visitors are reminded to take notice of signs displaying city parking restrictions for each street. Refer to the USF Department of Public Safety parking webpage for a map of parking on campus.