SAN FRANCISCO — Ryan Davis did it again, Jesse Barron shined in a new role, and the University of San Francisco baseball team completed yet another comeback Sunday, as the Dons came from behind to beat visiting Saint Mary's, 6-2, to clinch a West Coast Conference series victory at Benedetti Diamond.
 
Like he did in Friday's comeback victory, Ryan Davis had the game-tying hit that sent San Francisco (20-21, 15-9 WCC) towards victory. It was part of a two-out rally in the bottom of the fourth that won the game and helped get star Saint Mary's starter Ky Bush out of it.
 
Davis' RBI single was the third consecutive hit for USF after Bush had already retired the first two batters of the inning. Brandon Greim fought off a tough pitch to drop a Texas leaguer into left field, Luke Keaschall nubbed a ball through the right side of the infield with the Gaels shifted to the left, and Davis plopped one into no-man's land in right-center to score Greim and make it 2-2.
 
Nick Yovetich, who wasn't in the starting lineup Sunday for the second time in four games but only the third time all year, had a chance to make up for some of his recent struggles when he came to the plate in the fourth with the bases loaded in a lefty-on-lefty matchup against Bush. It was his first at-bat of the game after entering in the top half as a defensive replacement. He fell behind 0-2, and with him leading the Dons at 59 strikeouts on the year, and Bush with a WCC-leading 80 strikeouts to start the game and already with eight Ks at that moment, all things pointed to an inevitable result.
 
But Yovetich worked the count back to 2-2 before inside-outing a ball deep into the left field corner, clearing the bases and giving USF the lead for good at 5-2.
 
"Ryan Davis always does it, man, and Yovi – what a great at-bat by Yovi," said San Francisco head coach Nino Giarratano. "He's been working at it, and he got to (the pitch) and he had two really quality at-bats for us. I was really happy for him. Ryan Davis, he stayed after it, did his thing, Winkler had a solid day today, we had a lot of guys contribute offensively."
 
The comeback continued an ever-rolling storyline for this year's USF team. Sunday marked the 29th time this season the Dons have trailed at some point in a game and rallied to tie or take the lead. And earning the victory marked the 10th time they've won after trailing – half of their wins this season.
 
Meanwhile, Barron (3-2) threw the most innings of his college career with a four-inning middle relief appearance that earned him the win. He struck out a career-high six and posted four shutout frames. He entered in the top of the fourth after Saint Mary's (21-22, 10-14 WCC) had already homered to take a 2-1 lead and had a man on first with no outs. He shut down the Gaels' offense and was still strong on the backend of his appearance, retiring six of the last nine he faced with four strikeouts.
 
"I think the big story of the day is Jesse Barron," said Giarratano. "Just had to use him in a different way. He made good pitches today, and I think that's a good role for him. I think it's great for him to be at the back end of the bullpen, but I think if he gets a chance to make more pitches, he gets a little sharper with that slider and I think he could really do some good things for us. I was really pleased to see that outing by him."
 
After only collecting four hits (with three home runs) on Saturday, the Dons notched 10 on Sunday, their 14th game with at least 10 knocks. Keaschall (2 for 3) and Davis (2 for 4) both had multi-hit games. Saint Mary's also had two multi-hit performances from Kyle Velazquez (2 for 5) and Justin Banks (2 for 5). Bush, who also entered the weekend with a top-five ERA in the WCC, threw 103 pitches in only four innings, allowing five runs on six hits (two doubles) and four walks. He still struck out eight, moving his season Ks total to a WCC-best 88.
 
This weekend's series also acted as a reunion for Giarratano and Saint Mary's head coach Greg Moore, who served as an assistant to Giarratano for more than 10 years, including serving as associate head coach for three seasons from 2011-13.
 
"It's great to see Greg and it's great to see how well he's doing here," said Giarratano. "(The Gaels) are just going to keep getting better with him, he's just a super human being. It's really interesting to see your coaches move on. It's kind of like watching your kids grow up. You miss them and it's kind of bittersweet, but I'm so proud of him and what he does."
 
The two teams will play again on Monday in a non-conference contest in Moraga. Fans can find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.