April 10, 2002

(Stillwater, OK) - San Francisco rallied for three runs with two outs in the top of the ninth after sophomore shortstop Armand Gaerlan powered his sixth homerun of the season to cut the Oklahoma State lead to 9-8. Unfortunately for the Dons Cowboys junior reliever John Forrest recorded a strikeout to pick up his first career save, denying the Dons the win.

USF (8-29) gave the #23 Cowboys (24-8) all they wanted in the contest and held a 2-1 lead off freshman outfielder Royce Fukuroku's third homerun of the season. Oklahoma State answered every Dons challenge with an exclamation point in a hard fought contest.

The Dons added to the lead in the fourth on a solo homer by sophomore infielder Nick Cirbo off of Cowboy starter Mike Miller, to make it 3-1. It was the first long ball of the season for Cirbo. Daylon Monette tied the game in the bottom of the fourth with a two-run homer to straight away center field.

San Francisco took the lead again in the sixth when Cirbo belted a RBI double to left scoring Armand Gaerlan. The Dons then attempted to add to the lead when catcher Steve Booth singled to right, but Monette threw Cirbo out at the plate. OSU tied the game at 4-4 in its half of the sixth on a bases loaded walk by shortstop Rob Watson. First baseman Zach Cates three-run double in the bottom of the seventh broke open a 4-4 ball game. The Cowboys loaded the bases with three straight walks to open the inning before Cates bases clearing double gave OSU a 7-4 lead.

The Dons scored a run in the eighth to cut the lead to 7-5 before the Cowboys responded with two runs of their own in to extend the advantage to 9-5. The first OSU run was scored on a sacrifice fly by catcher Jason Jaramillo while the second run scored on a RBI triple by center fielder Jeff Salazar.

Cates finished the day 2-for-3 at the plate with three RBIs to lead the Pokes while Cirbo led the way for the Dons with a 3-for-4 showing and two RBI. Senior catcher Steve Booth also collected a pair of hits and went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

Shane Hawk pitched one and two-thirds innings of scoreless relief to pick up the win and move to 3-3 on the season while Steve Moses took the loss for USF to drop to 1-1. Moses came in to relieve USF right-handed starter Kevin Rose, who pitched well in a comeback from a back injury. Rose went 3.0 innings, allowing two runs on one hit and struck out five for the Dons.

USF returns to West Coast Conference action on Friday when they host Gonzaga in a three-game series in San Francisco. Game one begins at 3:00 PM at Benedetti Diamond.