Bronco Bats Do In No. 22 Cal Poly

Bronco Bats Do In No. 22 Cal Poly

Feb. 25, 2006

Box Score

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Santa Clara's big bats came out swinging Friday night as the Broncos banged out 15 hits and put up the same number of runs to deal the No. 22 Cal Poly Mustangs a 15-9 defeat at Baggett Stadium. Five Broncos posted a multi-hit game as the team has now won three in a row and scored 26 runs in the past two games.

The Broncos got to Cal Poly starter Gary Daley early, knocking him out of the game with a big eight-run second inning. The big inning helped SCU (6-5) put Cal Poly on their heels and force them to play catch-up the rest of the evening.

After Eric Newton and Matt Long respectively doubled and singled to start off the inning, Gabriel Alcantar and Brady Fuerst each doubled to give Santa Clara a quick 3-0 lead. Following a walk and a fielder's choice, Daniel Nava and Dustin Realini both singled in a run to cap the big Bronco inning.

Cal Poly (9-4) fought back, closing the gap to 8-7 at the end of three but Santa Clara quickly answered with a run in the fourth and two in the fifth to acquire a four-run cushion.

The Mustangs again made things close by cutting the lead to 11-9 later on but four Bronco runs in the ninth put the game out of reach.

Dustin Realini led the Santa Clara offense with three hits and two runs driven in while Kris Watts swatted a pair of doubles and had two RBIs. Matt Long and Alcantar also added a pair of hits and runs driven in.

Daniel DeMarco provided four and one-third strong innings of long relief to earn his third win of the year and freshman Mark Willinsky finished of the eighth and closed out the Mustangs in the ninth to earn his second save of the year.

The teams return to action tomorrow afternoon at Baggett Stadium with first pitch set for 1 p.m.