University of Washington
San Francisco
Dawgs Drop Series Opener To Dons, 7-4
March 13, 2009 | Baseball
March 13, 2009
SEATTLE - Lefty starter Matt Lujan worked eight strong innings for the visitors as the University of San Francisco beat the Washington baseball team, 7-4, in the first of a three-game series at Husky Ballpark.
Lujan (2-1) gave up four runs on 10 hits, but walked only one batter while striking out six for the win as the Dons improved to 6-10 on the season. Matt Hiserman pitched the ninth for his first save.
UW freshman reliever Andrew Kittredge (0-1) suffered the loss as the Huskies fell to 6-7 on the year.
USF grabbed the early lead with a run in the third as a two-out single from Derek Poppert plated Nik Balog to make it 1-0. In the fourth, USF's Dane Braunecker belted a one-out solo homer to center, his second of the year, to make it 2-0.
Washington hadn't been able to push a run across despite getting runners in scoring position in each of the first three innings. However, in the fifth, with Jake Rife aboard on a single, freshman Andy Bethel knocked his first career home run, tying the score at 2-2.
USF answered in the top of the sixth as left fielder Adam Kim came through with a two-out singled to put the Dons back in front, 3-2. In the bottom of the sixth, back-to-back singles from Kyle Conley and Ty Rasmussen were followed by a double-play groundout that scored Conley from third, tying the game at 3-3.
But once again, USF answered the Huskies, pushing two across in the top of the seventh. After a hit batter, a single and a sacrifice bunt put runners at second and third, right fielder Drew Johnson slapped a single to left, scoring a pair to put the Dons back in front, 5-3.
In the eighth, back-to-back, two-out doubles from Robert Abel and Ryan Lipkin led to a sixth Don run.
Julien Pollard delivered a two-out, RBI single to get a run back for the Huskies in the bottom of the eighth, but the Dawgs couldn't draw any closer. USF added a run in the ninth when a runner scored from third on a passed ball.
UW starter Jorden Merry didn't figure in the decision. He worked five and one-third innings, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out six. Bethel finished the day 2-for-4 with a homer, a double and two RBI to lead the UW batters.
The series continues with a 2:00 p.m. game Saturday and a 1:00 p.m. game Sunday. Live video of both games is available at gohuskies.com.
LINESCORE Non-Conference Game San Francisco 7, Washington 4 San Francisco 001 101 211 -- 7 14 0 Washington 000 021 010 -- 4 10 0 Matt Lujan, Matt Hiserman (9) and Ryan Lipkin. Jorden Merry, Adrian Gomez (6), Andrew Kittredge (6), Jacob Clem (9), Geoff Brown (9) and Pierce Rankin. W - Lujan (2-1). L - Kittredge (0-1). Sv - Hiserman (1). 2B - USF, Robert Abel, Lipkin; UW, Andy Bethel, Rankin. HR - USF, Dane Braunecker (2); UW, Bethel (1). T - 2:31. A - 336.
