The Weekend Series: The University of San Francisco baseball team welcome West Coast Conference rival, Santa Clara to Benedetti Diamond in a three-game series beginning on Friday, April 27 at 3 p.m.
GAME INFORMATION
April 27-29, 2018
USF vs Santa Clara
Benedetti Diamond
San Francisco
Gameday Links
Friday, April 27 – 3 p.m.
LIVE STATS
LIVE STREAM
Gameday Links
Saturday, April 28 – 1 p.m.
LIVE STATS
LIVE STREAM
Gameday Links
Sunday, April 29 – 1 p.m. – Autism Awareness Game
LIVE STATS
LIVE STREAM
*Sunday's game will be presented by Park N' Fly
Facing the Broncos: Over the last three seasons, the Dons have seen success when they take on Santa Clara. Last season, after losing the first game, USF bounced back and won the final two games to take the series. In their first win,
Thomas Ponticelli would get the nod and throw a complete game, striking out 10 in a 4-2 game.
Ross Puskarich would even up the game in the fourth inning with a solo home run. The second game was a slug fest that finished 12-7.
Scott Parker would come in to finish the fourth inning on his way to 2 1/3 innings of work to earn his fourth win of the season.
7th Annual Autism Awareness Game: On Sunday, the final game of the series, the USF baseball team asks for all their fans to come and show support to a cause that is near and dear to the hearts of every USF player, Autism Awareness. This day is a particularly special to the USF baseball team's "Team Mom" Deborah Peralta, as both her sons, Devin Jordan and Darius Xavier, have been diagnosed with Autism. Join the Dons, Deb and her sons as the Dons show their support not only to Deborah's sons but all those affected by Autism. USF will be wearing Autism Tree bracelets as well as puzzle stickers, representing the universal symbol of Autism.
Persistent Ponticelli: The junior has registered his first two losses of the season against LMU and, last week, Gonzaga. Prior to those losses, Ponticelli has been a consistent performing for the USF pitching staff. He still owns an impressive 2.61 ERA over a team-leading 69 innings pitched, while recording 63 strike outs.
Saturday Sunday Shutout: The combination of
Riley Ornido,
Landen Bourassa,
Brendan Jenkins and
Daniel Slominski combined for 18-innings of shutout baseball on their way to back-to-back wins. Ornido threw 7 2/3 innings before Jenkins came on to close out the game to earn his sixth save. Bourassa would throw 5 1/3 innings before Slominski would come on in relief for him. Jenkins would earn his seventh save with a scoreless ninth inning.
Production at the Bottom: In the final game against Gonzaga last weekend, the Dons would get some much-needed production from the bottom of their order. The duo of
Brady Bate (fifth in the batting order) and
Aaron Ping (eighth in the batting order) would combine for four hits, two RBIs, while scoring twice in the Dons 3-0 win. After reaching on a double in the third inning, Ping would score on the next at-bat from Allen to give USF their early 1-0 lead. Bate would drive in the second run of the game with his first single of the afternoon to drive in Perri. Ping would then cap the scoring for USF in the seventh with his second double of the game to drive in Bate. USF will look for a repeat of that production against Santa Clara.
WCC Top-10ers: The three at the top for the Dons boast some impressive stats offensively, in conference. Mike Perri and Allen rank amongst the top-five in conference in slugging percentage, hits, doubles and total bases. Joining those two in conference success is
Riley Helland, who breaks into top-10 in hits, doubles and total bases.
Ross Puskarich sits tied with Perri in fourth with RBIs on 29 after driving in the lone run in Saturday's win over Gonzaga.
NCBWA 2018 Stopper of the Year Midseason Watch: USF closer,
Brendan Jenkins, has been named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association midseason 2018 Stopper of the Year watch list. So far this year, Jenkins has made 22 appearances out of the bullpen for the Dons, while recording seven saves. In his 35 1/3 innings of work, Jenkins has struck out 35 batters.
