SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara baseball hosts UC Davis on Tues., April 23 at 6 p.m. game before traveling to Saint Mary's. The Broncos and Gaels will play Fri., April 26 at 3 p.m., Sat., April 27 at 1 p.m. and Sun., April 28 at 1 p.m.
Last week Santa Clara fell to Cal Poly on the road before being swept by San Diego at home. The Broncos are now 9-28 overall with a 0-15 mark in West Coast Conference play.
"We're going through a rough time as a team right now," said Santa Clara head coach Dan O'Brien. "We need to grow as a team and learn to take a punch but we won't be able to accomplish that until the guys are tired of losing. The adversity will ultimately benefit us because it will help build the program."
Santa Clara is 40-26-1 all-time vs. UC Davis. This will be the first of two matchups this season between the two teams. The Broncos will travel to Davis on April 30.
The Broncos are 156-109 all-time vs. Saint Mary's. Last year the Broncos took the series finale 9-4 at home. Matt Ozanne had a big day for Santa Clara, going 3-4 with a run and a RBI. Greg Harisis added two hits and Justin Viele was 2-3 with a run scored and a RBI.
The Aggies enter the week with a 15-22 overall record and a 4-11 mark on the road. They opened their season by taking three of four from Washington and taking down San Jose State. Davis took one game at Oklahoma State and was swept by No. 21 Cal Poly. The Aggies have also faced No. 4 Cal State Fullerton and were swept in a three-game series. On March 26 they took down Stanford 2-1 at home. Last week Davis swept UC Riverside in a three-game series and scored 30 runs.
The Gaels are 14-25 overall on 2013 and 5-7 in the WCC. They opened the season by taking one of four from Cal State Northridge on the road before sweeping Chicago State. They hosted Utah for a four-game set and took the second game 2-1. Last week Saint Mary's swept Portland at home.
Santa Clara has a team ERA of 5.36 in 335.2 innings. The pitching staff has allowed 388 hits and 137 walks while striking out 206. Opponents are hitting .295 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 (3-6, 3.87) 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 76.2 innings pitched and has struck out a team-high 41 batters with 32 walks while allowing 71 hits.
Max Deering (1-4, 4.53) has been the first choice coming in from the bullpen. Deering has thrown 45.2 innings over 26 appearances, including one start, and struck out 34 batters against just 14 walks. He is tied with D.J. Zapata for the team lead with two saves.
Reece Karalus (0-6, 6.26) has shown improvement as the season has progressed. Karalus has made 15 appearances and eight starts, covering 46.0 innings. He has struck out 41 batters while walking just 15. His 2.8 strikeout to walk ratio is tops on the team. Against the high-powered San Diego offense on April 19, Karalus went 7.0-plus innings while allowing just three hits and two earned runs with five strikeouts. Karalus has also picked up one save.
Chris Mendoza (2-2, 5.20) 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 36.1 innings over 17 appearances and five starts.
Santa Clara is hitting .249 as a team with a .333 on-base percentage and a .328 slugging percentage. The Broncos have hit 47 doubles, seven triples and 13 home runs while scoring 168 runs and stealing 50 bags in 70 attempts.
Greg Harisis leads Santa Clara in hitting with a .314 (38-121) batting average. He has added eight doubles, one triple, two homers, 19 runs scored, 24 RBI and a team-best 10 stole bases. His 17 walks and five hit-by-pitch put his on-base percentage at a terrific .417.
Newcomer Casey Munoz has started all 37 games for Santa Clara and is hitting .279 (41-147) with a team-high eight doubles, one triple, 18 RBI and 12 runs scored. Matt Ozanne is second on the Broncos with 19 RBI while hitting .248 (29-117) and scoring 19 runs. Justin Viele leads the Broncos with 22 walks, while hitting .286 (42-147) and posting a .394 OBP. He has scored 26 runs and driven in 13 while hitting five doubles, two triples and one home run with a nine stolen bases in 10 attempts.
Quinton Perry, who will miss the rest of the season due to injury, leads the team with five home runs. Perry hit .291 (25-86) with a .364 on-base percentage. He clubbed six doubles to put his slugging percentage at a team-best .535.
Steven Patterson leads Davis in hitting with a .338 (46-136) batting average. Patterson has scored 25 runs to go with 26 RBI. He has slugged eight doubles and two homers.
Nick Lynch is hitting .333 (38-114) with two bombs and five doubles. He has 21 RBI and has scored 15 runs.
Paul Politi leads the team with five home runs and 28 runs scored. Politi is hitting .276 (42-152) while adding nine doubles a triple for a team-high .447 slugging percentage. He has also taken a team-best 18 walks to post a .368 OBP.
Harry Stanwyck (3-5. 5.13) leads the Aggies in innings pitched with 52.2 over 10 starts. He has a team-high 30 strikeouts against 23 walks.
Max Cordy (4-4, 2.89) leads Davis in wins and has a team-best six saves. In 18 appearances out of the bullpen, Cordy has tossed 28.0 innings while striking out 13 and walking 14.
Markus Melgosa leads the Gales in hitting with a .382 (29-76) batting average. Melgosa has scored 18 runs with five RBI and has hit five doubles.
Brenden Kalfus is hitting .371 (46-124) with 20 runs scored and 21 RBI. He has hit four doubles and taken a team-high 20 walks. Kalfus is second on the team with nine steals.
DonAndre Clark is hitting .265 (30-113) with a team-high 24 runs scored and 15 stolen bases. He has two triples and nine RBI as well.
Collin Ferguson is hitting .237 (33-13() but leads the team in home runs with four. He has added one triple and eight doubles to go with 22 RBI and 17 runs scored.
Ben Griset (3-2, 2.54) leads the Gales in wins, complete games and innings pitched. In 63.2 innings over 9 starts and three complete games, Griset has thrown two shutouts while fanning 60 against 14 walks.
Jordan Mills (2-3, 2.70) has started nine games and thrown 50.0 innings. He has 50 strikeouts and 16 walks.
Patrick Keane (1-4, 5.67) leads the team with five saves. In 14 appearances out of the bullpen, Keane has thrown 25.2 innings with 18 strikeouts and nine walks.