April 19, 2003

Box Score

(San Francisco) - San Francisco chipped away, but could not come all the way back against Pepperdine, winners of 10 straight after a 8-5 victory against the Dons Saturday in West Coast Conference baseball action at Benedetti Diamond. USF (16-26, 9-12 WCC) banged out 13 base hits, but stranded 11 runners, while the Waves (26-15, 15-3 WCC) countered with 16 base hits, including eight doubles.

Freshman infielder Andrew Smith went 3-for-5 in a rare start at third base and responded for the Dons, scoring twice and driving in a run. Senior outfielder Jason Howard went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while junior infielder Armand Gaerlan and senior designated hitter Ryan Sittauer each went 2-for-5 with Gaerlan driving in one and Sittauer drove in two with a double in the seventh.

Trailing 6-2 heading into the bottom of the seventh, San Francisco scored a pair of runs knocked in by Sittauer to close the deficit to two, 6-4. The Diamond Dons added another run in the eighth on an RBI single from Smith.

Pepperdine launched back-to-back solo homeruns in the ninth to shut down the USF rally. Freshman left-handed reliever Paul Coleman earned his first save for the Waves, pitching 2.0 innings, allowing one run off one hit.

Junior right-hander Kevin Rose (3-6) suffered the loss, allowing six runs (five earned) off 12 hits and matched a season-high with six strikeouts. Junior right-hander Brandon Boesch (6-4) earned the win for Pepperdine, allowing four runs (three earned) off 11 hits in 6.2 innings.

USF returns to action when they travel to Reno for a Tuesday contest against the Wolf Pack. First pitch is scheduled for 2:00 PM at Peccole Park.