Merrick Belding
Staff Writer
As spring wraps up and the season winds down, USF is in the fight for a WCC championship. Even after starting the season on a ten game losing streak, the San Francisco Dons find themselves atop the WCC alongside Pepperdine and San Diego with only six games remaining in conference play. At the start of the season the Dons set their sights on a WCC championship, a goal that looked unattainable after a 0-10 start. But after the preseason hunch was blown away by the start of conference play, USF was bound together by a seemingly untouchable starting staff and overall consistent production throughout the starting lineup and contributing bench players.
Starting pitching has been the story all year; Christian Cecilio (5-2) and Anthony Shew (6-4) have battled through thick and thin to carry the team deep into games. Junior infielder Michael Eaton picked up the Rawlings player of the week award after sweeping San Diego last week. Eaton’s dominance in the 9-hole has been a key contribution in the Don’s success thus far.
After USF was swept on the road against BYU last weekend, they still have shared possession of first place. And with only two series left in the WCC, San Francisco has a chance to win a championship for the third time in Giarratano-era.
“I was proud of them how they competed on the road,” Head Coach Nino Giarratano said. “Everything is still in front of us and we need to keep playing. It is all about the streaks right now, the winning streaks and the losing streaks. Hopefully we can even that out and start winning our games.”
USF has full control over their season at this point. The next game will be the start of a home series against Pepperdine at Benedetti Diamond.
