April 27, 2002
Final Stats
San Francisco, CA - Junior outfielder Alfonso Valdez blasted a walk-off homerun to deep left as the Dons capped off a furious late rally with a 9-8 West Coast Conference victory against Saint Mary's Saturday at Benedetti Diamond. With the win, the Dons (12-35, 4-18 WCC) capture their sixth consecutive victory against their WCC and Bay Area rival Gaels (17-20, 9-8 WCC).
San Francisco looked to be in trouble early as Saint Mary's scored a pair of runs in the first and second to take a 4-0 lead after two, but the Dons would answer with a two-run third on a double from freshman infielder Cy Donald, followed by an RBI double from sophomore outfielder Joe Jacobitz, to close the gap to 4-1. Senior catcher Steve Booth would add an RBI single to close the score to 4-2 after three complete.
After a scoreless fourth, the Gaels posted two runs in the fifth and added another in the sixth to increase their margin to 7-2 heading into the bottom of the frame where freshman infielder Khamis Zaniniri continued his coming out party with an RBI double to make the score 7-3. Saint Mary's answered with a run in the top of the seventh, to take a 8-3 lead. It would not last.
Donald earned a lead-off walk to start things off for the Dons in the seventh, followed by a double from sophomore shortstop Armand Gaerlan, setting the stage for Jacobitz, who lifted a two-two pitch to deep left center for his second homerun in three games, cutting the score to 8-6. San Francisco chased Gaels starter Kevin Trochez, who came out after 6.1, allowing six runs off 10 hits to go along with eight strikeouts.
Senior right-handed reliever Steve Moses (2-1) shut the door on the Gaels and pitched 2.0 strong innings to collect his second win of the season, allowing just one hit, while striking out three. The Dons scored in the eighth on an RBI single from Zaniniri, but left the bases loaded. USF capitalized in the bottom of the ninth, when freshman infielder Royce Fukuroku slapped a lead-off double to right center, setting the stage for Valdez' dramatic, game-winning blast.
Valdez finished the afternoon 2-for-5 with homerun and two RBI, while Jacobitz was 2-for-2 a homerun, four RBI and three walks. Jacobitz finished the game batting at a .410 clip and needs just eight hits in his final nine ballgames to be the USF single-season hits leader. Former USF All-American Taggert Bozied holds the mark for the moment with 84 in the 1999 campaign. Zaniniri, Gaerlan and Donald all finished with a pair of base hits for San Francisco.
Junior infielder Mark Teahen went 3-for-5 with a triple and three RBI to lead Saint Mary's. Jason Waugh, Mike Harris, Brian Houle, Adam Thompson and Brett Wayne each collected a pair of hits for the Gaels. USF hosts Saint Mary's in the series finale on Sunday at Benedetti Diamond. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 PM.
