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SANTA CLARA, Calif. – After a sweep at Seattle University that included a thrilling come-from-behind win, Santa Clara baseball will take on San Francisco State at Schott Stadium on May 8 and travel to the University San Francisco for three Weest Coast Conference games from May 11-13.

The Broncos are 22-20 overall with a 3-12 mark in WCC play. Santa Clara swept a two-game series at Seattle University on May 1 and 2 before taking the weekend off from games due to their bye weekend in WCC play.

The Division II San Francisco State is 17-32 overall and will play its last game of the season vs. Santa Clara on Tuesday. The Gators split a four game series with Cal State East Bay over the weekend, winning 5-4 on May 4 and 4-2 on May 6. San Francisco State took on UC San Diego, first-year Santa Clara head coach Dan O'Brien's former school, for four games on Mar. 17 and 18 and lost three of four. The Tritons out scored the Gators 30-10 in the four games.

San Francisco has posted an overall record of 23-28 with a 9-9 mark in WCC play. At home the Dons are 11-9 where they took two of three from BYU April 26-28. Over the weekend San Francisco traveled to Pepperdine and after taking the opening game of the series 7-2, lost the following two games by scores of 8-3 and 6-1, respectively.

Fans should keep an eye on SantaClaraBroncos.com, @SCUBroncos and @SCU_Baseball on Twitter or the athletics Facebook fan page for in game updates. 

BRONCO PITCHING
Junior RHP Tommy Nance (4-3; 3.16) has lived up to the title of Friday night starter for the Broncos in 2012. He has made 11 starts while also appearing in relief once. Nance leads the team with 77.0 innings pitched, including two complete games, and is second with 38 strikeouts. He has walked 25 while allowing a .253 batting average against. He is second on the team in wins, behind WCC Pitcher of the Month for February LHP Powell Fansler. 

Fansler has been very good as Santa Clara's mid-week starter. He has a team-high five wins and an ERA of 3.45. In 15 appearances, including nine starts, he has tossed 57.1 innings while striking out 25 and walking just 13. Fansler was named WCC Pitcher of the Month for February when he picked up four wins while making two starts and appearing twice in relief.

RHP Mike Couch (1-5; 4.08) threw his first complete game and first career shutout vs. San Jose State on Mar. 4. He allowed six hits and one walk while striking out seven. Converting from a bullpen role in 2011, Couch has made nine starts and thrown 57.1 innings. His 39 strikeouts lead team and he has only allowed 14 walks.

RHP Paul Twining (4-4; 2.92) has been one of the top bullpen arms thus far for Coach O'Brien. Twining has made 24 appearances, including two starts, to lead the team. He has struck out 33 batters in 37.0 innings. He also leads the team with seven saves. He pitched the ninth inning in each of the four Santa Clara games in the third annual Jack Gifford Memorial Tournament from Mar. 8-11, picking up three saves.

The other reliable bullpen arm has been LHP Max Deering (2-2; 3.03). Deering has appeared in 21 games spanning 32.2 innings. He has surrendered 36 hits and struck out 16 while walking 13. Deering is second on the team with three saves.

BRONCO OFFENSE
INF/OF Greg Harisis has started 19 games while making 28 appearances overall and leads the team with a .395 (30-76) batting average. He has scored 19 runs to go with eight RBI and four doubles. Harisis blasted his first career home run on April 28 vs. Saint Mary's over the right field wall at Schott Stadium. He has a terrific .452 on-base percentage that is helped by is seven walks. 

OF Matt Ozanne has show that he is a power and speed threat. He is tied for third on the team with three home runs, including a no-doubt shot over the batting cages in left field vs. Pepperdine on April 22, and leads the team with 11 steals. He is hitting .290 (38-121) with a .369 on-base percentage while playing stellar defense in center field.

OF Lucas Herbst and OF Pat Stover have been very good for the Broncos in 2012. Herbst is second on the team with .381 batting average (40-105). He is second on the team with 22 runs scored and has added 21 RBI while hitting six doubles and four triples. Herbst has blasted two home runs, including going back-to-back with Harisis on April 28 vs. Saint Mary's. With seven walks and six HBP, his on-base percentage stands at a terrific .438 which has helped him steal four bases. Stover is hitting .295 (46-156). Stover leads the team with 29 RBI and has also scored 25 runs. He has eight doubles and five home runs. His nine steals in 12 attempts are second on the team.

SCOUTING SAN FRANCISCO STATE
C Mark Lindsay leads the Gators in batting average with a .348 (56-161) mark while scoring 18 runs and driving in 20 more.  By collecting 16 walks, he is the only qualifying player on the team with an on-base percentage above .400 (.407). Despite the high average, Lindsay has shown almost no power as he only has three extra-bases hits, all doubles, on the season. 

C Matt Quintero has hit three home runs which is the most on the team. He is hitting .292 (42-144) and is tied for the team lead with 20 RBI. He has scored 23 runs while added 13 doubles to post a team-best .444 slugging percentage.

San Francisco State has struggled on the mound, posting a 6.39 team ERA. RHP Brand Petrangelo won a team-high six games while posting a 4.86 ERA in 79.2 innings. In his 18 appearances, including 11 starts, he through four complete games and picked up five saves. He struck out 44 batters with 31 walks.

RHP Peter Reyes came into 23 games for the Gators and made one start, which was a complete game. He was 4-4 with a 4.53 ERA across 43.2 innings while striking out 27 and walking 20. He added two saves for second on the team.

The only other pitcher with an ERA under 5.00 is LHP Ryan DeJesus who is 2-4 with a 4.83 ERA in 13 starts and one relief appearance. He has pitched 69.0 innings and struck out 46 against just 13 walks.

SCOUTING SAN FRANCISCO
The Dons success stems from their very solid pitching. They have a 3.26 ERA as a team and are led by Abe Bobb and potential first-round Major League Baseball draft pick Kyle Zimmer. 

Bobb has made 12 starts with a record of 6-4 and an ERA of 2.49. He has pitched 72.1 innings while striking out 55 and walking just 12. He has thrown one complete game this season.

Zimmer is 4-3 with a 2.71 ERA which doesn't do justice to his dominance. In a team-high 76.1 innings he has struck out 85 and walked 13. He has allowed just 63 hits and has a batting average against of .227. Zimmer has tossed three complete games, including two shutouts.

With the bats the Dons are led by OF Justin Maffei, who is hitting .318 (56-176) with a whopping 32 walks to put his on-base percentage at .455. He has clubbed three home runs and 10 doubles but has just 10 RBI while scoring 41 runs. He has stolen 21 bases in 25 attempts while no other Don has more than one successful steal.

INF Nik Balog is hitting .276 (47-170) in 44 games while tying for the team-lead with three home runs. He has added 11 doubles and a triple while knocking in 35 runs and scoring 14.

C Mason Morioka has started 48 games and is hitting .264 (42-159) with three home runs and 16 RBI. He is second on the team 27 walks and 25 runs scored.

EXTRA INNINGS
You don't want to go to extra innings with the 2012 Santa Clara baseball team. With its 3-2 11 innings win at Seattle University on May 2, Santa Clara is now a perfect 4-0 in extra innings this season. 

The Broncos kicked off the season with back-to-back extra inning games at the Bobcat Invitational. On opening day, Santa Clara topped then-No. 37 Texas State by a final of 5-4 in 13 innings. Santa Clara took advantage of a dropped third strike with two outs in the 13th and loaded the bases before an error on the shortstop let the winning run come across.

In game two of the double header, Santa Clara took down Wichita State 7-1 in 12 innings. This time the Broncos took advantage of sloppy defense and put up six runs in the 12th to move to 2-0 on the season.

In game two of a doubleheader with Brown on Mar. 27, Santa Clara battled through 12 innings to get a 2-1 win and sweep the series. In the bottom of the 12th Santa Clara loaded the bases with one out and 1B Andrew Biancardi legged out the back end of a double play to seal the win.

The most recent extra inning contest was an 11 inning affair with Seattle University that featured a ninth inning comeback. Down one in the top of the ninth the Broncos knotted the game with a double and a single. In the 11th the Broncos loaded the bases and knocked in the winning run with a fielder's choice by LF Pat Stover.

GOING, GOING, GONE
The 2012 edition of Bronco baseball is showing a lot more power than their 2011 counterparts. In 42 games Santa Clara has smacked 20 home runs, with seven players having at least one home run and five players have at least two. In 51 games in 2011 Santa Clara hit only 11 home runs. C/DH Pat Terry and CF Matt Ozanne tied for the team lead with three each. No one else had more than one big fly. 

LF Pat Stover leads the team with five, including a deep bomb to left vs. Illinois-Chicago to help the Broncos win their home-opener 9-3 on Feb. 24. 1B Andrew Biancardi has smacked four homers while Ozanne has tied his total from last year with three. INF/OF Greg Harisis hit his first collegiate home run vs. Saint Mary's on April 28, an opposite field shot far over the right field wall at Schott Stadium.

The increase in power has helped put the Broncos on pace to beat their total runs from 2011 of 226. Through 42 games Santa Clara has scored 204 runs. If the Broncos continue at the 4.8 runs per game pace they have been on, the team will finish with 262 runs, 36 more than last year.

SHAVE FOR CHANGE
After the game vs. Pepperdine at Schott Stadium on April 21 Santa Clara players and coaches shaved their heads in support of St. Baldrick's "Base Bald" program. The volunteer-driven charity funds research to find cures for childhood cancers and to let survivors long and healthy lives. St. Baldrick's funds more childhood cancer research than any organization besides the U.S. government. 

Even though the team raised its goal of $9,000, the event was about more than just money. The Broncos wanted to bring awareness to the public about children with cancer and show their support for the kids that are fighting every day.

Salon Blu and Art of Shaving, both Santa Clara businesses, sponsored the event and did the shavings.

O'Brien and his coaching staff have made reaching out to the community an emphasis in their first year on the Mission campus. When the players heard about the program, they all were eager to participate.

"In a pre-practice meeting earlier this season we were asked to raise our hands if any of us have been affected by cancer and it blew my mind to see almost every hand go up," said sophomore pitcher Max Deering. "It put into perspective just how devastating cancer has become to our society. It motivated me to do everything in my power to raise as much money as I possibly can."

"For our guys to be this excited to shave their heads for a good cause says everything you need to know about them as a group," said O'Brien before the event. "We're honored to be associated with St. Baldrick's for such a worthy event and to do what we can for children fighting this disease."

To find out more about St. Baldrick's, visit www.stbaldricks.org

IRON BRONCO
Only one Bronco has started all 42 games in 2012 and he plays one of the most demanding positions on the diamond. Shortstop Justin Viele has flashed the leather all season while anchoring Santa Clara's infield defense by making only seven errors in 182 chances. 

The junior is hitting .234 (29-124) but has a solid .356 on-base percentage which is helped by his team-leading 16 walks and eight hit-by-pitch. Viele has added one triple and five doubles while scoring 19 runs and knocking in nine RBI. He has also swiped five bases.

Durability is nothing new for Viele, as he was the only player to start every game for Santa Clara in 2011 as a sophomore. He hit .237 (44-186) while scoring 26 runs and knocking in 12. He had six doubles and one of 11 Santa Clara home runs. He drew 17 walks, just one more than he has so far in 2012, and was hit by a pitch 10 times. He committed just seven errors in 224 chances.

As a freshman Viele started 28 of Santa Clara's 54 games. He hit .310 (27-87) with 10 doubles, 12 RBI and 23 runs scored while walking 10 times and stealing two bases.

BEATING QUALITY OPPONENTS
Santa Clara came out of the gates in 2012 ready to play. Thus far they have defeated then-No. 35 Texas State, then-No. 37 Wichita State and a Cal Poly team who swept Oklahoma State in three games and the Broncos WCC rival LMU in a four game series. The Broncos also beat 2011 College World Series participant Cal on April 11. Santa Clara has taken down nine teams with a winning record. 

Below are the teams with winning records the Broncos have beaten in 2012 and their current records.

POWELL FANSLER NAMED WCC PITCHER OF THE MONTH FOR FEBRUARY
Santa Clara baseball went 7-2 in new head coach Dan O'Brien's first month on the Mission Campus and LHP Powell Fansler was named the West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Month for February. He picked up four of the seven Bronco wins while making two starts and appearing twice in relief. 

Fansler was dazzling for the month, making two starts and two relief appearances. He posted a 2.65 ERA to go along with his four wins. In 17.0 innings pitched he allowed 16 hits and struck out nine against only two walks.

LISTEN UP
Eight select Bronco baseball games, four non-conference and four conference, in 2012 will be called on the Broncos' online Game Central via Stretch internet, for the first time since 2010. All eight broadcast will be done by a two-man student broadcast affiliated with Santa Clara's athletic department. The crew includes John Nash , a junior on the Santa Clara men's water polo team and an Athletic Department student employee, and Brandon Rebboah, also an Athletic Department student employee. In addition to the eight broadcasted games, all home games will have free video streaming via Game Central. The remaining games to be aired will be May 22 vs. Stanford, May 25 vs. LMU and May 27 vs. LMU. 

"We're excited to have two passionate and talented Santa Clara students broadcast our games once again. We want people to fall in love with Bronco baseball and who better to help us do that than these two outstanding young men," said O'Brien about the radio broadcasts.