SANTA ANA, Calif. - Santa Ana Baseball opened the 2023 season with an impressive offensive display as they defeated the San Diego Mesa Olympians (0-1) 12-8 on Friday afternoon. 

The Dons (1-0) fell behind early with SD Mesa getting on the board first with four runs in the top of the third. But in the bottom half of the inning, Santa Ana came alive starting with a 3-run home run by Mario Tostado to score Michael Poot and Marc Schavone. 

Following a single by Ryann Stock, the Dons took the lead as Austin Haller turned on a pitch and lifted it over the right centerfield fence to make it a 5-4 game. 

Although the Olympians manufactured another run in the top of the fifth inning to tie the score at 5-5, Santa Ana got right back to work with their bats, scoring five runs over the next two innings which was highlighted by Schavone's 2-run homer to right in the fifth. 

But San Diego Mesa would not go down quietly and scored three more runs in the eighth to cut the lead to just two at 10-8.

A couple insurance runs produced by hits from Tostado and Haller in the bottom half of the inning finally put the game out of reach, giving Santa Ana their first win of the season. 

Tostado finished with a line of 2-for-4 with four runs batted in and three runs to lead the Dons. 

Haller went 3-for-4 with three runs batted in while Schavone and Stock contributed with two hits a piece and combined for five runs and four RBI's. 

The Dons got a great performance from on the mound James Showalter, who came on in relief to strike out six while conceding just one run in 4.2 innings. The freshman right hander out of Mission Viejo earned his first win of the season. 

SAC will go on the road to finish their series with San Diego Mesa on Saturday afternoon. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.

1-0 �� #DonsRoll pic.twitter.com/XaAKpKr9DD

— SAC Dons (@SACDons) January 28, 2023