SAN FRANCISCO — Friday's final score did not speak to the type of game the University of San Francisco baseball team had in the opener of its three-game West Coast Conference series against visiting Pepperdine.
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Though the final score was only a three-run margin thanks to a late rally by the Waves, the Dons dominated on both sides of the ball, taking a 9-1 lead into the ninth thanks to multiple home runs and a stellar outing by ace
Riley Ornido, as the Dons beat Pepperdine, 9-6, at Benedetti Diamond.
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HOW IT HAPPENED
- Ornido (6-5) returned to form Friday, starting off the month of May on the right foot after losing some of his staff ace mojo during April. The junior righty struck out nine and scattered five hits (his lowest number of hits allowed since March 29) while only giving up one run to the Waves (19-19, 10-9 WCC). He no-hit Pepperdine for the first four innings, and after three singles in the fifth, he retired five more in a row (including his last three strikeouts) before stranding runners on the corners in the seventh and leaving the game with an 8-1 advantage.
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- San Francisco (26-20, 13-9 WCC) staked Ornido to a five-run lead in the third inning with a big two-out rally that chased Pepperdine starter Jonathan Pendergast (5-3) from the game. The Dons made Pendergast work overtime in the third. The Waves' righty labored through 52 pitches in the bottom of the third alone. He had two-strike counts on all nine batters he faced in the inning – including getting ahead of six of them with an 0-2 count – but he would give up two infield singles, three walks and two doubles.
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- Robert Emery's bases-clearing, two-out, three-run double off the right-centerfield wall (after falling behind 0-2) broke open what had been a 0-0 game to that point. Another full count walk  to Nick Yovetich put two runners on, and Kyle Knell followed with another double off the right field wall that scored Emery. Thomas McCarthy brought home Yovetich on a high chopping infield single over the mound to make it 5-0, and that was it for Pendergast.
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- The Dons' other Riley, Riley Helland, also had a standout day, reaching base five times by going 3 for 3 with two walks, two runs scored, two RBIs and a home run, his fourth of the year. Helland's two-run shot in the bottom of the fourth made it 7-0 at the time. Jack Winkler also hit a home run, a solo shot to lead off the sixth for his fifth long ball of the year. It earned back the run the Waves had gotten in the fifth and made it 8-1.
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- With Ornido finally out of the game in the eighth and ninth innings, the Waves went to work against the Dons' bullpen. Pepperdine loaded the bases in the eighth but left them that way with no runs. It did it again in the ninth, but this time cashed in. Seven of the Waves' first eight hitters reached safely, including a string of six consecutive singles, the last four bringing in five runs and turning a 9-1 blowout into a three-run contest at 9-6.
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- That's when USF closer Joey Steele entered the game to shut the door. He fell behind 3-1 to the first batter he faced but came back to strike him out looking, then struck out Aharon Modlin (already 3 for 4 on the day to that point) on three straight pitches to earn his 10th save of the year.
NOTABLE NUMBERS
- 6: Friday marked the Dons' sixth multi-homer game this season. The Dons have hit eight home runs in their last eight games, including two multi-home run performances.
- 14: San Francisco had 14 hits Friday, snapping a three-game streak of having less than 10 hits. The Dons equaled their run total from the past three games combined with nine runs against Pepperdine.
- 33: With two home runs on Friday, the Dons reached 33 homers for the year, tying the 2017 team's total. The last time a USF team hit more than 33 home runs in a season was 2010, when the team hit 52.
COMING UP
- Saturday brings game two of the series, set for a 1 p.m. first pitch. The Dons will throw left-hander Scott Parker against Pepperdine lefty Easton Lucas. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.
