March 8, 2006
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - The return of southpaw Donald Brandt to the mound and a two-run homer by Daniel Nava kept the Santa Clara baseball team's winning ways going as they earned their 10th win of the season with a 6-1 victory over the Sacramento State Hornets at Hornet Field.
Santa Clara improves to 10-7 on the season with the win while Sacramento State drops to 7-11.
Wednesday's victory is the sixth in the last eight games for the Broncos, who will now travel to Seattle for a three-game weekend set against the Washington Huskies. First pitch for Friday's series opener has been changed to 3 p.m. with Saturday's game set for 2 p.m. and Sunday's for 1 p.m. at Husky Stadium. Bronco fans can follow the game live via Gametracker here on santaclarabroncos.com.
Brandt (1-0) got the win in his first action on the mound since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year. The sophomore left-hander gave up only a pair of hits in four innings of work while striking out two. The Hornets only managed two more hits the rest of the way as Justin Kuehn went two scoreless innings of relief while Daniel DeMarco, Jeff Lombard and Mark Willinsky each followed with an inning of work.
Santa Clara got things started quickly as Daniel Nava, who went 2-for-3 on the day with three RBIs, homered over the left-field fence to give the Broncos an early 2-0 advantage. Two innings later Nava's second extra-base hit of the day, a triple to left, plated Eric Newton.
The Broncos got two more in the sixth as Brady Fuerst continued his solid freshman year with a two-out, two-RBI single.
Kris Watts also had a pair of hits and scored twice while Gabriel Alcantar continued his solid play with a double.
The next Santa Clara home date is set for Wednesday, March 15 at 6 p.m. against the UC Davis Aggies. Tickets are available by calling (408) 554-4660 or by visiting the Leavey Center ticket office.