SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. – Batting all the way to the final out on their home diamond, the USF Dons baseball team (17-29, 7-19) dropped an extra innings thriller against the Portland Pilots (28-20, 17-9) by a 9-8 final score in 11 innings on Friday afternoon at Benedetti Diamond.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT:
- Portland continued their trend of starting the game strong as they plated a pair of runs in the top of the first and then added a run in the top of the third to lead 3-0 early in the game.
- USF was ready to answer the Pilots' early offensive attack as Darius Foster led off the USF half of the third with a walk and Tyler Martinez followed with a single to put traffic on the bases. Harris Williams II would bring in the first USF run of the game on an RBI groundout to cut into the lead. Mario DeMera would then come through with an RBI single to left that plated T. Martinez to get the Dons back within a pair. Following a Will Asby double to left center, Michael Campagna would drive in DeMera on a groundout and Christian Stapleton would give the Dons a 4-3 lead on an RBI single back up the box to plate Asby.
- The Pilots weren't done scoring as they added the game tying run in the top of the fourth and tacked on three more runs in the fifth as they held a 7-4 advantage through the majority of the game.
- Trailing by three runs entering the bottom of the ninth, the Dons began to rally as Campagna began the inning by reaching on an error and Stapleton walked to put a pair of runners on ahead of Patrick Keighran who came through with a game-tying three run home run to even the score at 7-all forcing extra innings.
- Portland was able to break through in the top of the 11th as they scratched across a pair of runs to give themselves a 9-7 lead.
- Despite trailing in extras, the Dons weren't done fighting as T. Martinez was hit by a pitch with one out and DeMera doubled him home to get back within a run. The Pilots were able to get the game's final out two batters later to pick up the 9-8 win in the second game of the series.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES:
- Starring at the plate on Friday, Keighran went 3-for-5 at the plate with his game tying three run bomb in the ninth inning against Portland.
- Providing tremendous relief out of the Dons' bullpen, Ryan Yerby tossed four scoreless frames while allowing just a pair of hits and striking out five Pilot hitters on Friday.
- Reaching base four times, DeMera went 2-for-5 with a pair of walks, two RBI and a run scored on Friday afternoon.
- Serving as the team's DH on Friday, Asby went 2-for-5 with a walk and a run scored in the second game of the weekend set.
POST GAME WITH THE DONS:
- To view the highlights from today's game, please click here.
- To view our post game press conference with USF head baseball coach Rob DiToma, please click here.
UP NEXT:
USF will now wrap up their 2023 regular season on Saturday afternoon against Portland with a 1:00 p.m. first pitch scheduled at Benedetti Diamond. Live streaming and live statistics for the contest are 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.
MERCHANDISE:
Want to dress like the Dons? Rep USF today by visiting the all-new USF Dons online store at
www.usfdons.com/shop.
SPONSOR THE DONS:
The University of San Francisco Athletics Department would like to acknowledge our department sponsor –
BSN Sports - for their continued support of USF Athletics. Interested in sponsoring the Dons? Please contact
Frank Allocco, the Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director of External Relations, at fallocco@usfca.edu or at (415) 422-4561.
