Box Score

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. --- Stephen Yarrow hit a three-run, walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the San Francisco Dons a come-from-behind 7-6 win over the Portland Pilots in a West Coast Conference baseball game at Benedetti Diamond on Saturday afternoon. The Pilots entered the bottom of the ninth with a cozy 6-3 lead before the Dons rallied for the win.

 

The loss is the sixth straight for Portland, which drops to 31-15 and to 11-6 in the WCC. The Dons improve to 26-25 and to 9-8 in the WCC, inching even closer to UP in the conference standings.

 

Portland looked in control heading to the final frame with a three-run lead and its nearly unhittable closer Chris Dennis on the mound. But Dennis has had better days as he allowed a walk and base hit after inducing a lead-off ground out by George Lujan. Travis Higgs then brought home the first run of the inning, pulling the Dons within 6-4 with an RBI single.

 

Then with two on, Yarrow ended the game with one swing of the bat, sending a 2-0 pitch over the fence in right field for a three-run, game-winning blast.

 

It’s the first loss of the season for Dennis (4-1), who entered the weekend tied for the national lead with 13 saves. He pitched a scoreless eighth inning before the fateful ninth.

 

San Francisco reliever Joe Oropeza (1-0) gets the win after working the game’s final 1.2 innings. He struck out two and allowed one walk.

 

After giving up a run in the bottom of the fourth, the Pilots took their first lead in the series with three runs in the top of the fifth inning. Junior OF Tyler Thompson had a solo home run, sophomore SS Kris Kauppila registered an RBI double and junior 2B Riley Henricks made it a 3-1 UP lead with a sacrifice fly.

 

USF got one back in the bottom of the fifth before Portland added a run in the top of the seventh, courtesy a sac fly by freshman OF Nick Armenta.

 

The Dons once again answered with a run in the bottom of the seventh, pulling USF within 4-3.

 

The Pilots then gave themselves what appeared to be a little breathing room with two runs in the top of the eighth. Both runs came on an RBI single by OF Kyle Haskin, making it a 6-3 game in Portland’s favor.

 

Junior Zach Varce started the game on the hill for UP, working 7.0 innings before giving way to Dennis. Varce was charged with three earned runs on seven hits and a walk. He struck out nine.

 

San Francisco used four pitchers on the day, with starter Matt Lujan going 6.1 innings. He allowed four runs on five hits and three walks, while striking out a pair.

 

USF finished with a 13-8 edge in hits and neither team committed an error. Junior 3B had a game-high three hits.

 

The Dons, who won Friday’s opener 10-3, have already clinched the series and will go after the sweep on Sunday at 1:00 p.m.