SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Playing four games this week for the first time in almost a month, Santa Clara baseball travels to Pacific on Tues., April 9 for a 6 p.m. game before welcome San Francisco to Schott Stadium. The Broncos and Dons will play Fri., April 12 at 6 p.m., Sat., April 13 at 3 p.m. and Sun., April 14 at 1 p.m.
Last week Santa Clara was swept at home by BYU. The Broncos are now 8-21 overall with a 0-9 mark in West Coast Conference play.
"We're going through a rough patch as a team right now and we need to fight through it," said Bronco head coach Dan O'Brien. "The team is excited to get back to the core values that we teach. Things won't turn around until the guys are sick of getting beat but I know that this will help our program in the end. We look forward to watching the guys battle the rest of the season."
Santa Clara is 78-41 all-time vs. Pacific. Last year the Broncos toppled the Tigers 8-5 in Stockton behind a big day from T.J. Braff. Braff was 2-4 with a run scored and four RBI.
The Broncos are 157-72-1 all-time vs. San Francisco. Last season the Dons swept Santa Clara in a three-game series at Benedetti Diamond.
The Tigers enter the week with a 9-17 overall record and a 6-4 mark at home. Pacific picked up a win vs. Gonzaga on Feb. 24 and took down Arkansas at the Coca Cola Classic on March 3. Last week the Tigers took two of three from Long Beach State at home.
The Dons enter the week with a 16-15 record and a 5-4 mark in the WCC. They took down Arizona on March 3 by a final of 9-2 to avoid being swept by the Wildcats. They then went on the road and took one of two from Missouri and one of two from Oregon State. Last week USF took a break from conference play and took two of three from TCU on the road.
Santa Clara has a team ERA of 5.58 in 256.2 innings. The pitching staff has allowed 309 hits and 99 walks while striking out 164. Opponents are hitting .304 off of Bronco pitchers.
Tommy Nance (2-2, 3.24) leads the team in ERA. Nance has thrown 25.0 innings and allowed 19 hits. He has 18 strikeouts against nine walks with an opponents' batting average of .213. At San Jose State on March 10 he tossed 8.0-plus innings of one-hit, one-run ball with seven strikeouts.
Mike Couch (3-45, 3.49) has been the Friday night starter for Santa Clara and had his best outing vs. San Jose State on March 8. Couch threw a complete game shutout with five strikeouts. Couch leads the team with 59.1 innings pitched and has struck out a team-high 38 batters with 23 walks while allowing 53 hits.
Max Deering (1-3, 4.05) has been the first choice coming in from the bullpen. Deering has thrown 33.1 innings over 19 appearances, including one start, and struck out 25 batters against just seven walks. His 3.6 strikeout to walk ratio is tops on the team. He has also leads the team with two saves. D.J. Zapata and Reece Karalus are tied for second in saves with one each.
Chris Mendoza (2-2, 5.40) stepped up out of the bullpen in the first game of the double header vs. Michigan State on March 16. Mendoza threw 5.0 innings of one-run ball to save the bullpen. Mendoza has thrown 30.0 innings over 12 appearances and five starts.
Santa Clara is hitting .256 as a team with a .343 on-base percentage and a .331 slugging percentage. The Broncos have hit 36 doubles, five triples and nine home runs while scoring 138 runs and stealing 40 bags in 57 attempts.
Greg Harisis leads Santa Clara in hitting with a .344 (32-93) batting average. He has added seven doubles, one triple, two homers, 16 runs scored, 19 RBI and five stole bases. His 10 walks and three hit-by-pitch put his on-base percentage at a terrific .421.
Quinton Perry leads the team with five home runs, his total from 2012, while hitting .291 (25-86). Perry has a team-high 19 RBI while adding six doubles and scoring 19 runs. Perry has a .364 OBP and a .535 slugging percentage.
Newcomer Casey Munoz has started all 29 games for Santa Clara and is hitting .292 (33-113) with a team-high seven doubles, one triple, 16 RBI and nine runs scored. Matt Ozanne is tied for first on the Broncos with 19 RBI while hitting .255 (25-98) and scoring 15 runs. Justin Viele leads the Broncos with 19 walks, while hitting .286 (32-112) and posting a .423 OBP. He has scored 23 runs and driven in nine while hitting four doubles and a triple with a team-high eight stolen bases in nine attempts. Freshman Kert Woods is second on the team with five steals in seven attempts while scoring 10 runs.
Tyler Sullivan leads the team in hitting with a .352 (32-91) batting average and a .406 OBP. Sullivan has six doubles, two triples, seven RBI and has scored 22 runs. He also has a team-best five stolen bases.
Erik Lockwood is second on the team with a .333 (30-90) average with a team-high .413 OBP. Lockwood has one home run and seven doubles to go along with 11 runs scored and 11 RBI.
Gory Popham (2-1, 2.14) leads the team in ERA and is tied for the team-lead with two wins. He has tossed 33.2 innings with 15 strikeouts and 14 walks. Popham has thrown the lone shutout for Pacific.
Michael Benson (3-3, 3.42) leads the Tigers in innings pitched with 50.0 over seven starts. Benson has struck out 16 batters to go with 13 walks.
Kyle Crawford (1-1, 4.56) has made a team-high 11 appearances, including two starts, and has thrown 25.2 innings. Crawford has struck out 10 against eight walks.
Mike Hager (0-3, 6.59) and Kevin Hammann (2-1, 4.05) are tied for the team lead with one save each.
The offense is led by Bradley Zimmer who is hitting .311 (32-103). Zimmer has a team-best five home runs to go along with three doubles, two triples, 16 runs scored and 18 RBI. He also leads the team with eight steals in 13 attempts.
Zachary Turner is hitting .310 (36-116) with two home runs, six doubles, 21 RBI and 10 runs scored while starting all but one game on the season. His 21 RBI leads the Dons' roster.
Bob Cruikshank had started all 31 games this season and is hitting .300 (33-110). Cruikshank has scored six runs and driven in 13 while hitting a team-best 12 doubles, good for second in the conference.
Haden Hinkle (6-1, 1.42) has appeared in 12 games while also making one start. He has thrown 44.1 innings while striking out 34 with eight walks. He is holding opponents to a .199 batting average.
Alex Balog (2-3, 3.38) has started eight games for the Dons and thrown a team-high 50.2 innings. Balog has 36 strikeouts against 18 walks.
Adam Cimber (1-1, 2.76) leads the team in appearances with 15 and saves with four. Cimber has thrown 29.1 innings while striking out 24 batters and walking six.
Hinkle, Andrew Pulido (0-0, 2.95) and Abe Bobb (1-5, 4.35) have each collected one save apiece.