SAN ANTONIO, Texas – The University of San Francisco brought their bats in the first game of a three-game series, beating the University of Texas San Antonio 11-2.
 
THE RUNDOWN
After going scoreless in the first two innings of the game, the bats came out in the third for both teams, with the Dons grabbing the 3-0 lead. Jonathan Allen got the scoring started, driving in the first run of the game with a sac-fly to right field. Tyler Villaroman added a second, singling to left to drive in freshman Jack Winkler. The final run of the inning came when Ross Puskarich popped up to second base was dropped, leading to Villaroman scoring to make it 3-0, USF.
 
The Roadrunners got on to the scoreboard in the third inning as well, coming in the form of a single up the middle by Tony Beams, and a wild pitch that allowed Beam to score for the second run of the inning.
 
From there, the Dons scored in five of the remaining six innings with two multi-run innings coming in the sixth and eighth. In the sixth inning, Winkler recorded his first career collegiate hit, driving in Aaron Ping to extend the Dons lead to 6-2. Allen added to his RBI tally on the night with a double in the left field gap driving in two and increasing the Dons' lead at the end of the inning to 8-2.
 
In the eighth inning, USF added two more to their lead, which came from another RBI single coming from Villaroman. The second run came when a wild pitch allowed Brady Bate to score and bump the Dons' lead to 10-2. Rounding out the scoring for USF was another freshman, Nick Yovetich. In his first collegiate at-bat, Yovetich laced a homerun to give the Dons a 11-2 lead.
 
Redshirt-senior Brendan Jenkins replaced Ponticelli in the sixth inning, and the right hander went on to throw four shutout innings to close out the game and earn his first save of the season.
 
COACHES QUOTES
On the overall performance:
"We really executed what we wanted to do offensively as a team, and executed what we wanted to do defensively. We played a very clean game and that was the difference for us. We were able to take advantage of some mistakes from the other team, as well. We also got two solid pitching performances from Ponti(celli) and Brendan Jenkins. It was an all-around solid team performance."
 
On Tyler Villaroman and Jonathan Allen's offense:
"Both Villaroman and Allen at the top of the order did a lot for us. They got three two out RBIs and got on base to provide an extra threat. Their at-bats really helped our lineup."
 
On the freshmen performances:
"I thought Jack Winkler played a great game, especially defensively. Then a two-out RBI single to add to that, he was great tonight. Then, Nick Yovetich, what a way to start your college campaign. The first fastball he sees he knocks it right out of the park. What a wonderful way to begin your college baseball experience."
 
On contributions from the whole lineup:
"You know another newcomer, RJ Cordeiro, also had three solid at-bats for us. We really h ad five or six guys that really pushed us, but whenever you win 11-2 you're getting contributions from everyone, not just one player.
 
 
GAME STATS

• The first and second batters, Tyler Villaroman and Jonathan Allen, drove in six of the Dons 11 runs. Both going 2-for-5 with 3 RBIs a piece on the night.
• Thomas Ponticelli threw five solid innings, striking out 7 and giving up just two earned runs.
• Coming on in relief, Brendan Jenkins threw four shutout innings, including three strikeouts to earn his first save of the season.
• The freshmen pair of Jack Winkler and Nick Yovetich both notched their first collegiate hits. Winkler's was an RBI single, and Yovetich's a solo homerun.
• RJ Cordeiro went 2-for-2 on the night, with a double and a run.

 
NEXT UP
USF and UTSA will face off in a Saturday double-header with first pitch slated for 12 p.m. PT.