SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Notching their third shutout of the season, the University of San Francisco baseball team (27-28, 13-13 WCC) officially secured their fifth conference series victory of the year on Saturday afternoon as the Dons blanked Pacific (14-37, 5-21 WCC), 5-0, at Benedetti Diamond.
 
With the win and Portland's loss to Pepperdine on Friday, May, 20, USF has now officially clinched the sixth seed in the 2022 West Coast Conference Tournament. As the sixth seed, the Dons will face the three seed (Portland or San Diego) at 3:00 pm on Wednesday, May 25 at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton.
 
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:

• Getting things going in the home half of the first, Mario DeMera got the Dons on the board with a sharp RBI into left center field as Harris Williams III came around to score and put the Dons in front early, 1-0.
• Two innings later, DeMera would do the exact same thing as his second RBI single of the contest gave USF a 2-0 advantage in the bottom of the third.
• On the mound, Riley Ornido dazzled in his final start on the Hilltop as the right-hander spun 5.2 innings of scoreless baseball for the Dons to begin the ballgame.
• Moving into the middle innings, USF would double their lead to 4-0 with two runs on one hit and one Tiger error in the bottom of the sixth, which included a clutch two-out RBI single from catcher Michael Campagna.
• Enjoying success of their own, Lance Santerre and Jesse Barron worked to keep Pacific off the scoreboard as the duo combined to toss 3.1 innings of scoreless relief out of the bullpen.
• In the eighth, USF added late insurance on an RBI fielder's choice by Williams III, extending their advantage to 5-0.
• Making quick work in the ninth, Barron retired the Tigers with no major issues as the Dons went on to shutout Pacific, 5-0, and secure their fifth WCC series victory and ninth overall this year. 

NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:

• In his final game on campus, Ornido finished with a season-high 5.2 innings pitched as the graduate student notched his 20^th scoreless outing of his career and his 27^th appearance of 5.0+ innings or more. Notably, Ornido finished with a final line of: 5.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 6 K, 3 BB.
• Riding a hot streak at the plate, Williams III tallied his fifth three-hit performance of the season and his team-leading twelfth multi-RBI performance of the year as the senior went 3-for-4 with two runs scored and two RBI in the victory.
• Providing consistency in the middle of the lineup, DeMera now has a five-game hitting streak after going 2-for-4 with two RBI against Pacific on Saturday. 

POSTGAME:

• To view the full highlights of today's contest, please click here.
• To view the full postgame interview with interim head coach Mat Keplinger, please click here.
• To view the full postgame interview with pitcher Riley Ornido, please click here.

UP NEXT:
USF will close out their regular season with one final matchup on the Hilltop as the Dons and Tigers will square off on Sunday at 1:00 pm. Senior day festivities are set to begin at 12:25 prior to the contest, so be sure to join us at Benedetti Diamond. Live streaming and live statistics are also available via the team's schedule page.
 
FOLLOW US:
For updates and more information on the USF baseball program, be sure to follow @SFDonsBaseball on Twitter, @USFDonsBaseball on Instagram and @University.of.San.Francisco.Baseball on Facebook.