by Michelle Schmitt 

SANTA CLARA, Calif.-  Despite trailing by three runs or less for most of the game, Santa Clara dropped its mid-week game to Stanford 10-3. Joe Supple picked up the loss for the Broncos, falling to 0-3 on the season.  Patrick Terry continues to perform well for the Broncos. He hit a two run-homerun, stole a base and threw out two runners.

"We didn't get ahead of their hitters," said head coach Mark O'Brien. "They're dangerous, if you don't get ahead of them then you're asking for trouble."

In the first inning, Joe Supple walked the first two batters he faced. Kenny Diekroeger hit a three-run dinger to put the Cardinal on the board. Supple then induced a fly ball and two groundouts for three consecutive outs.

In the home half of the first inning, Kyle DeMerritt supplied the Broncos' first hit of the game with a two-out single. Patrick Terry followed with a towering two-run homerun to pull within a run of Stanford.

Supple fanned Justin Ringo to start the second. Zach Jones singled and stole second. Lonnie Kaupila provided an RBI double to extend Stanford's lead to 4-2. Supple responded with a strikeout and then Curtis Wagner tracked down a ball in foul territory to end the inning.

Max Deering took over the hill in the top of the third.  A groundout to second was followed by a groundout to the shortstop.  Jason Viele was tagged with an error at short on a hard hit ball by Guymon.  Clowe grounded into a fielder's choice to end the top half of the inning.

 After a popout, Lucas Herbst hit a long out to right field for the second out.  Viele struck out swinging to finish the bottom of the third.

Paul Twining took the mound at the top of the fourth and Zach Jones welcomed him with a single on the first pitch.  Kaupila moved the runner along with a sacrifice bunt and Jones moved to third on a passed ball.  Jake Stewart singled to score Jones.  Gaffney hit into a fielder's choice and then Stanford hit a pop out to left to end the inning. 

DeMerritt bounced out to the shortstop.  Terry was hit by a pitch and advanced to second on a wild pitch.  Wagner walked on a pitch off the outside corner.  A single by Drew Ozanne scored Terry.  Zach Looney struck out swinging and Takahashi popped out to end the inning.

Chris Mendoza took the hill at the top of the fifth for the Broncos.  Takahashi made a terrific catch in deep center on a hard hit ball by Piscotty.  Terry threw out Ragira trying to steal second and then the Cardinal hit a groundball to the shortstop to finish the inning.

Leyva grounded out to the second baseman to open the bottom of the fifth.  Herbst collected a one-out double and then Viele popped out to the shortstop.  DeMerritt flied out to right to end the inning.

Clowe struck out swinging to start the top of the sixth.  Jones singled to right before he was thrown out trying to steal by Terry.  The Cardinal flew out deep to left centerfield to end the inning.

Bryan Busick took the mound for the Cardinal in the bottom of the sixth. It was his first appearance this season.  He struck out Terry looking to start the inning.  Wagner grounded out and then Drew Ozanne roped the ball past the third baseman for a double.  Looney struck out swinging to end the inning.

Jason Westerberg went to the mound for the Broncos and Stewart and Gaffney both singled to start the inning.  Diekroeger popped out to the pitcher and Piscotty singled to load the bases with no outs.  Bronco skipper Mark O'Brien visited the mound to settle down the redshirt-junior reliever.  A 6-4-3 double-play got the Broncos out of the inning unscathed. 

Herbst hit a two-out single and then he stole second.  Viele walked.  Scott Snodgress relieved Busick.  The Bronco duo pulled off a double steal to advance to second and third.  DeMerritt struck out to end the inning.

Guymon lead off the eighth with a base hit and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Giulian. Jones followed up with a groundout to the pitcher that advanced the base runner to third. Kauppila smacked a single to right field to knock in the Cardinal's sixth run on the night. The inning looked to be over but Kyle DeMerritt committed an error when he couldn't come up with a groundball that put runners on first and second. Stanford capitalized on the Santa Clara miscue when Gaffney and Diekroeger hit back-to-back triples to right-center following the error. Piscotty grounded out to second to end the inning.

Pat Terry flew out to center field to lead-off the home half of the eighth inning, Curtis Wagner followed with a strikeout and Drew Ozanne ended the inning by grounding out to shortstop.

Brock Simon came in to pitch the top of the ninth and promptly gave up a first-pitch single to left field. One pitch later Simon got Wilson to ground into a 4-6-3 double play.  Diekroger recorded his first collegiate hit, a single to center, off of Simon with two outs and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Jones drew a walk to reach base for the fourth time on the night. Kauppila singled up the middle to put Stanford into double digits for runs. Simon struck got Stewart looking to end the inning.

Andrew Biancardi pinch hit for Zach Looney to lead off the bottom of the ninth and grounded out to third for the first out of the inning. Takahashi was hit by a pitch and Leyva followed with a walk. A wild pitch on the strikeout to Herbst advanced both runners. Justin Viele grounded out to shortstop to end the game.

The Broncos will now travel to San Francisco to battle USF in a three-game series. The series begins Thurs., April 19.

Game Notes: First pitch was thrown at 6:02 p.m….Terry's homer was his second of the season…Santa Clara caught to Cardinal base runners stealing …