May 8, 2006

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University baseball team will look to return to its winning ways as it begins a trying five-game week with a Tuesday evening battle at 6 p.m. against the Stanford Cardinal at Stephen Schott Stadium. SCU will have no time to rest following Tuesday's contest as the next day the team travels north to Berkeley to take on another Pac-10 school, the California Golden Bears Wednesday afternoon at 2:30 p.m.

This week will feature SCU's final four home games, as after returning from Berkeley the Broncos will host the Portland Pilots over the weekend in their final WCC series of 2006. Tickets are available by calling (408) 554-4660 or by visiting the Leavey Center ticket office.

The Broncos (26-22, 7-11 WCC) are coming off of a tough weekend which saw them suffer a three-game sweep at the hands of the San Diego Toreros. In all three contests Santa Clara held the lead as late as the eighth inning but San Diego bounced back each time, twice in its final at-bat, to send the Broncos home on the losing end.

Daniel Nava had a big weekend for Santa Clara, batting .769 (10-for-13) in the three games with three runs scored and an RBI to raise his average on the season to .392, tops in the West Coast Conference. Kris Watts hit his eighth home run of the season on Saturday, a first-inning grand slam.

Stanford (22-21, 7-11 Pac-10) is coming off of a weekend which saw them take two of three from Pac-10 rival California at Sunken Diamond over the weekend. The Cardinal fell to the Broncos 6-1 in 10 innings in the first meeting between the two schools on April 25 at Sunken Diamond Stadium as SCU used a five-run tenth to open the game up.

Chris Minaker (.360, 13 doubles, eight home runs, 48 RBIs) leads the Cardinal offense while Greg Reynolds (5-3, 3.49 ERA) leads the Stanford pitching staff on the hill.

California (24-24, 9-12 Pac-10) will play on consecutive days this week as well, taking on the Broncos following a Tuesday afternoon contest against San Francisco. Santa Clara defeated the Golden Bears by a count of 12-7 in the teams' first meeting on April 5 at Stephen Schott Stadium.

The Golden Bears are led by the hitting of Allen Craig (.361, 13 doubles, 10 homers, 31 RBIs) and Brennan Boesch (.298, nine doubles, 10 home runs, 37 RBIs) while ace Brandon Morrow (7-3, 1.74 ERA) paces the staff.

Following this week's action, the Broncos will conclude the 2006 campaign with a game on the road at Stanford on Tuesday, May 16.