MORAGA, Calif. — It was another close game Tuesday for the University of San Francisco baseball team, as the Dons fell behind early but battled back before falling by two runs, 7-5, in a non-conference midweek matchup against Saint Mary's at Louis Guisto Field.
 
Saint Mary's (10-7) struck first Tuesday with three runs – all unearned – in the second inning. It was the 14th time in 16 games this season that a Dons opponent was the first one to score.
 
"We've gotten down early probably 90% of the games we've played, so not a big deal there," said San Francisco head coach Nino Giarratano. "We didn't make good pitches in the second inning, hit-by-pitch, error, you know, all the things we do to get ourselves in a hole."
 
But like they have all season, the Dons (4-12) battled back, scoring a run in the third and two more in the fifth to make it a one-run game at 4-3. Lane Oliphant's first career base hit in the third – a leadoff single – helped lead to the Dons' first run of the game when Harris Williams drew a bases-loaded walk to force him in. Oliphant's first career RBI came in the fifth when he, himself, drew a bases-loaded walk to force in Jack Winkler and make it 4-3. But the Dons would leave the bases loaded with the Gaels escaping to preserve their one-run lead.
 
"I'm sure we left a good amount of players on base and in scoring position, so just mistakes today," said Giarratano. "The kids never quit, so that's great. But we don't play so good all the time right now.
 
"We're gonna have to pitch way better than we have out of that bullpen. We've gotta play better defense than we've played. We've definitely got to score more runs and give ourselves more opportunities to win."
 
Saint Mary's pushed its lead up to four runs at 7-3 with unanswered scores in the sixth and seventh. But again, San Francisco battled back. The Dons scored two runs in the eighth to cut their deficit in half, but they would leave the tying runs in scoring position after a base running mistake. A leadoff walk in the ninth brought the tying run to the plate three times in a row, but three straight outs ended the game.
 
San Francisco opens West Coast Conference play this weekend with a three-game series against Pepperdine starting Friday. Fans can find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.
 
"We get a second chance to restart, reboot," said Giarratano. "We've gotta learn how to win. We've done such a poor job of coaching these kids and teaching them how to win. They keep playing hard."