Stockton, Calif. - Behind the arm of senior Michael Benson, the Pacific baseball team came away with a 3-2, series-clinching, victory over San Francisco on Sunday, March 22. The Tigers (4-17, 3-3 WCC) took the series 2-1 over the Dons (9-15, 3-3 WCC) as Pacific won its third-straight Sunday contest behind Benson.

Coming up with his second-consecutive quality start, Benson (2-0) put the Tigers on his back for 6.0 solid innings of work en route to his second victory of the season. Throughout the contest, Benson was in control of the game, even when his control to the plate faltered. Allowing just one run in the top of the third, Benson ran through the Dons' lineup with an efficient 84 pitches as he scattered just four hits while striking out seven. The lone blemish against Benson on the day came on a ball hit deep to right that saw junior right fielder Gio Brusa crash into the fence while trying to make the catch, jarring the ball loose for an RBI single. 

Brusa made it up to his pitcher in the bottom half of the inning when he drove in senior Tyler Sullivan from third for the Tigers' first run of the game. The manufactured run came courtesy of a small ball running game as Sullivan bunted his way on before moving to second on a sacrifice. From there, Sullivan took it upon himself to move within 90 feet of scoring as he swiped third for his fourth stolen base of the year.

Tied at 1-1, Pacific took the lead one inning later as the Tigers again manufactured a single run in the fourth. With junior Louis Mejia leading the inning off with his second single of the afternoon, the Tigers moved their red-hot first baseman all the way to third after sophomore Danny Mayer walked and senior Jimmy Gosano bunted the pair to second and third. With two in scoring position, senior Dallas Correa did what he needed to do to plate the run as he knocked a ground ball into the 5/6 hole for the RBI as the Dons were able to get Mayer trying to move to third on the play.

The RBI for Correa was the first of two scoring plays for the senior catcher as he was the batter that was up when the Dons' gifted Pacific a run with an error in the sixth. With a runner at second in Gosano thanks to a two-out hit and a wild pitch, Correa floated a shallow fly ball to left that dropped under the glove of the Dons' left field allowing Gosano to score what would be the game-winning run.

The one run in the sixth proved to be the difference as USF plated a run in the top of the eighth as they turned a leadoff double into their second run of the game. Despite the run, Pacific's bullpen held strong behind Benson as junior Jake Jenkins took the Tigers' to the ninth where he turned the ball over to closer Vince Arobio.

In the ninth, Arobio (2) got the first two Don batters he faced before a two-out single and a stolen base made things interesting. With the count full, and facing the top of the lineup, Arobio came up with another perfectly timed punch-out to end the game as the sophomore fooled Connor Hofmann with his signature changeup to end the contest. The save was the second of the season for Arobio as he had his hand in both wins on the weekend after picking up the victory in relief on Saturday afternoon.

With the pitching staff firing on all cylinders, the Tigers' defense came up with their best game of the year as Pacific put a zero on the board under the error column for the first time on the year.

Offensively, Mejia and Sullivan led the way with two hits a piece as the duo each scored a run to go along with their hits. Gosano finished 1-for-1 with two walks and the game-winning run scored.

The loss went to USF's starter, Jeider Rincon (1-3) as he lasted 6.0 IP with seven hits and three runs given up. He struck out four and walked three before giving the ball to the bullpen.

Pacific will have no time to celebrate its series victory as the Tigers host Texas-Pan American in a single game on Monday, March 23 at Klein Family Field. The two teams are set to face off at 4:00 pm in Stockton.