Jan. 29, 2003
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
This Week
Santa Clara will travel to the Big Island of Hawaii for a four-game series with the University of Hawaii-Hilo. The Broncos and Vulcans will play a doubleheader on Friday in Hilo. Saturday and Sunday's single games will be played on the other side of the Island, in Kona. Friday's doubleheader and the Saturday and Sunday games are all scheduled for 4 p.m. Pacific time starts.
Last Year vs. Hawaii-Hilo
Santa Clara and Hawaii-Hilo played a four-game series in 2002, a series in which the Broncos took three out of four games from the Vulcans. Hawaii-Hilo won the first game of the set by a score of 6-5 on Friday, March 8. Santa Clara rallied to win the next three games over the final two days of the series by scores of 9-7, 7-2 and 7-3. Chad Fillinger picked up the win on Saturday while Matt Travis and Joe Diefenderfer picked up the wins during the doubleheader on Sunday. A.J. LaBarbera and Ryan Chiarelli each picked up eight hits in the series against the Vulcans in 2002 to lead the Bronco offense.
Scouting the Vulcans
Hawaii-Hilo enters the weekend series with a 2-10 overall record, having been swept by No. 8 Arizona State in a six-game series, and winning only two of six games against Kansas. Tom Henderson leads the UHH offense with his .395 average, 15 hits and 10 RBI. As a team the Vulcans are batting .231 while their team ERA is at 9.71.
Probable Pitching Rotation
Game 1- Santa Clara: Joe Diefenderfer (LHP, Sr., 6-0, 165) 0-1, 9.82 ERA
Hawaii-Hilo: Robert Shimbaku (RHP, Sr., 5-10, 170) 0-2, 9.82 ERA
Game 2- Santa Clara: John Redmond (LHP, Jr., 6-2, 186) 0-0, 0.00ERA
Hawaii-Hilo: Jason Miyahira (RHP, So., 5-7, 175) 0-2, 12.00 ERA
Game 3- Santa Clara: Matt Travis (LHP, Sr., 6-0, 185) 0-1, 4.50 ERA
Hawaii-Hilo: Adam Inaba (LHP, Fr., 6-0, 175) 0-1, 5.79 ERA
Game 4- Santa Clara: Scott Shapiro (RHP, So., 6-6, 230) 0-0, 0.00 ERA
Hawaii-Hilo: Daniel Lockett (RHP, Sr., 6-0, 175) 0-1, 11.70 ERA
Head Coach Mark O'Brien
Santa Clara enters the 2003 season under the direction of second-year head coach Mark O'Brien. During his first season at the helm of the program, O'Brien led the Broncos to a 25-30 overall record and a 15-14 mark in the West Coast Conference. Included in his 25 wins during the 2002 season were victories over No. 1 Stanford and No. 13 Fresno State. He also guided the Broncos to series sweeps over Pepperdine and San Francisco. Under his tutelage senior Joey Gomes earned First Team All-America, All-West Region and All-WCC honors in 2002 after leading the nation in doubles. He also had two honorable mention All-WCC performers in Matt Travis and Jim Wallace.
Opening Weekend Recap
Santa Clara opened its 2003 season with a weekend home-and-home series with the third-ranked Stanford Cardinal last weekend. In front of an opening day crowd of 1,390 fans, the Broncos dropped their season opener to Stanford by a score of 7-2. Despite the five run differential, the Broncos were down by only two runs heading into the eighth inning, but a home run in the eighth and two more runs in the ninth secured the game for the Cardinal. Sunday's game was dominated by pitching as Stanford shutout the Broncos the score of 5-0. Santa Clara could only manage one hit, which came off the bat of Eric Newton with two outs in the top of the ninth inning.
Season Openers
After dropping its 2003 season opener to No. 3 Stanford, Santa Clara is now 1-8 in its last seven eight openers dating back to the 1996 season. It was in 1996 that the Broncos picked up their last season opening win, claiming a 10-1 victory over San Francisco State.
Collegiate Debuts
Six Santa Clara players made their collegiate debut last weekend in the series against Stanford. Michael Thompson, Michael Lange and Jason Matteucci each started both games for the Broncos as freshmen, while fellow rookies Andrew Slorp, Patrick Overholt and Eric Newton each had appearances off the bench.
Rea of Hope
Redshirt sophomore Anthony Rea made a successful comeback to collegiate baseball during Santa Clara's season opener against No. 3 Stanford in Buck Shaw Stadium. After sitting out the 2002 season with shoulder injuries, Rea came on in relief in the fourth inning and threw 3 1/3 innings of work in which he allowed only one hit and two baserunners.
What's in a McName?
Three players on the 2003 Santa Clara baseball team have last names that begin with the letters Mc. In the all-time roster history of the program since 1960 there have been 19 players whose last names begin with those two letters, including this year's players Patrick McBride, Matt McColgan and Kellen McConnell. The only other time a Santa Clara team had three players with the letters Mc to begin their last name was on the 1968 and 1969 teams when Tim McAnany, Jerry McClain and Bill McMonigle each played on the Mission Campus.