SAN FRANCISCO -- A six-run third inning helped the Dons build enough of a cushion to withstand a late rally in closing out the season with a 7-5 victory over Pacific on Senior Day at Benedetti Diamond on Sunday afternoon.
 
USF's seniors all chipped in in the winning effort with Manny Ramirez, Jr. leading the way by going 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBIs, while Dominic Miroglio went 2-for-3 with a double and a run driven in and Matt Sinatro tallied two hits and a run scored. Nico Giarratano added a pair of RBIs as well.  
 
Right-hander Grant Goodman (4-4) picked up the victory after allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits while striking out four and walking one over 5 1/3 innings. Fellow senior Joey Carney notched the save with 1 2/3 innings of scoreless work, striking out two.
 
"We won the last three series and I thought we played pretty well down the stretch," head coach Nino Giarratano said. "I'm really proud of this senior class in how they competed and how they played. They helped us make some good strides and I think this is a good transition. We're going to build on that."
 
Pacific (18-34, 6-21 WCC) jumped out to an early 2-0 lead against Goodman in the top of the second when Ryan Schalch led off the inning with a base hit. A fielding error by Sinatro in centerfield on Blake Barry's one-out single helped put Schalch in scoring position and setup Lucas Halstead's two-run single.
 
But USF (29-28, 11-16 WCC) jumped ahead with six runs in the bottom half of the third that was aided by two Pacific errors, which resulted in five of the six runs coming across unearned. Aaron Ping started the frame by reaching on a throwing error by third baseman Carter Hayes. Harrison Bruce, Sinatro and Nico Giarratano each followed with consecutive base hits, with Giarratano's plating both Bruce and Ping. Allen Smoot bounced back to the pitcher, Ricky Reynoso, who turned and fired high and wide trying to get the lead runner at third, resulting in a bases loaded situation that led to Miroglio's sacrifice fly and a fielder's choice from Michael Perri that scored a run. Ramirez capped it off with his two-out, two-run homer over the left field fence for his third long ball of the year.
 
The Tigers started chipping away with three runs of their own in the top of the seventh with an RBI single by Kevin Sandri and a two-run single by Halstead that trimmed the USF lead to 6-5. Bruce helped limit the Tigers to three runs in the inning by making a leaping catch up against the wall in left field that took away a run-scoring extra base hit from Hayes.  
 
A leadoff walk from Smoot to start the bottom of the seventh and a long single to right-center by Miroglio put runners on first and third. Smoot then came around to score when Perri grounded into a double play.

"It's really going to be tough to lose all these guys," added Giarratano. "We've got to replace a lot of guys, and a lot of guys that had some really good tools for the college game. But we're banging at the door again and we're going to get this done."
 
At 29-28 overall, the Dons notched their first winning record since making an NCAA Regional appearance in 2013. USF finished in sixth place in the final West Coast Conference standings.