STANFORD, Calif. — The San Francisco baseball team jumped ahead early and stayed ahead for half the game on the road Wednesday at top-10 ranked Stanford, but the No. 7/9 Cardinal used a big sixth inning rally and two home runs off the bat of Brandon Wulff to take the lead for good in an 8-3 non-conference win at Sunken Diamond.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• San Francisco (4-3) scored two first-inning runs to take an early 2-0 lead over Stanford. The Dons took advantage of two leadoff free passes (hit-by-pitch, walk). Jonathan Allen notched his 10th RBI of the year in just the seventh game of the season with a one-out RBI single to make it 1-0. USF tacked on an unearned run later in the inning when a throwing error by the Stanford first baseman allowed Robert Emery to reach safely and Jack Winkler to score from second.
   
• Stanford (7-1) tied the game at 2-2 with single runs in the second and third innings, one of which was Wulff's first long ball of the night – a leadoff solo shot in the second on a full count. But San Francisco wasn't done. The Dons took back the lead in the top of the fifth with an RBI double from Winkler, scoring leadoff batter Tyler Villaroman all the way from first to make it 3-2.
   
• After being stifled for most of the game, the Stanford offense finally broke through in the bottom of the fifth. The first two batters reached base on a hit-by-pitch and a single, with a one-out RBI single off the bat of Will Matthiessen tying it at 3-3. Then up stepped Wulff again – who smashed a three-run home run to give Stanford the lead for good at 6-3. Three straight singles following Wulff's home run would tack on two more runs for the Cardinal to make it 8-3.

COACH G QUOTES

• "I'm pleased with the way that our young arms competed at Stanford. We need to execute a bit better offensively to beat a team of that caliber."
   
• "They had some very good at bats with runners in scoring position. We will need to continue to perfect our process and competitiveness for nine innings."

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 6: The Dons used six pitchers during Wednesday's midweek affair at Stanford. Four of them did not walk a batter, three of them did not allow a run and two of them did not allow a hit.
• 7: Winkler's 2-for-4 day extended his hitting streak to seven games to start the season. He has had four multi-hit games during the streak while notching RBIs in five of them.
• 8: San Francisco left eight runners on base Wednesday. The Dons have stranded eight or more runners in five of seven games so far this season.

COMING UP

• The Dons' road trip continues this weekend when they travel to Fort Worth, Texas, to face Kansas State in a three-game neutral-site series at TCU's Charlie and Marie Lupton Baseball Stadium. The series was moved to Fort Worth on account of the below-freezing temperatures forecasted for Manhattan, Kansas, this weekend.
   
• Fans can find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.