SANTA CLARA, Calif. – In the final game at Schott Stadium in 2013, Santa Clara baseball lost to future West Coast Conference opponent Pacific by a final score of 8-1. The Broncos are now 10-36 overall while the Tigers are 12-31.
The Broncos return to the field on Fri., May 10 at 5 p.m. at Cincinnati.
Tommy Nance (2-4, 4.82) started for Santa Clara and got a loss in 6.0 innings. Nance allowed three runs on three hits with two walks and six strikeouts. The offense was led by Justin Viele who was 2-4 with two doubles and a RBI and Greg Harisis who was 1-2 with a double and a walk.
Kyle Crawford (1-3, 5.40) started for Pacific and got a no-decision in 3.0 innings. Crawford allowed one run on two hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Nick Viola (1-0, 4.40) got the win in 1.0 shutout inning out of the bullpen. The offense was led by Jason Taasaas who was 2-3 with a double and two RBI and Dustin Torchio who was 2-4 with two RBI.
Gio Brusa smacked a home run to right field in the top of the second to give Pacific the early 1-0 lead. It was his second home run in three games.
Kyle DeMerritt walked leading off the bottom of the third and Justin Gisch followed with a single through the left side. Viele tied the score with a double to left but Gisch was tagged out after rounding third base too far. Viele moved to third on a ground out and was picked off when he ventured a third of the way down the third base line trying to cause a balk.
Torchio singled through the left side starting the fourth inning. He advanced to second on a ground out and to third on a wild pitch with two down. A walk to Tyger Pederson put runners on the corners and Pederson swiped second to put two runners in scoring position. Taasaas followed with a single up the middle to knock in two runs and put the Tigers back on top.
The sidewinder Nick Viola came in to pitch for Pacific in the bottom of the fourth and Harisis greeted him with a ball off the wall in left center for a double. Viola bounced back and got out of the inning without Harisis advancing.
Viele doubled down the left field line to lead off the home half of the sixth but was thrown out trying to advance on a pitch in the dirt. Pacific was able to get out of the inning with the lead still in tact.
Jose Vizcaino, Jr. laid down a perfect bunt to third base with one out in the bottom of the seventh for a base hit. Matt Ozanne singled past the short stop on a short hop that put runners on the corners with just one out. Drew Ozanne hit into a 4-6-3 double play that ended the inning without a run coming in.
Taylor Murphy drew a four-pitch walk with one down in the top of the eighth and Torchio was hit by a pitch. Max Deering came in to pitch and got an inning-ending double play.
After two strikeouts in the top of the ninth, Taasaas doubled down the right field line and Brett Sullivan followed with a walk. Robby Mansfield singled through the right side to score an insurance run and put runners at the corners. Mansfield stole second to take away the force at second and both runs came in on a single up the middle by Tyler Sullivan. The fifth straight Tiger reached base on a single to left by Murphy . Both runners moved up on a passed ball and came in to score on a single to left by Torchio. Deering was lifted for Chris Mendoza who finally ended the inning with a strikeout of Erik Lockwood.
Bryce Lombardi came in to pitch the bottom of the ninth and set down the Broncos 1-2-3 to close out the game.
Game Notes: First pitch was at 6:06 … Time of game was 2:33 … Attendance was 281 … Mike Hager came in to pitch in the bottom of the fifth … Tyler Sullivan robbed Drew Ozanne of extra bases with a diving catch in left center for the first out of the bottom of the fifth … On the next play, Gio Brusa made a diving catch coming in in left field on a liner by Kyle DeMerritt … Taylor Murphy came in to play right field in the bottom of the sixth … Peter Hendron came in to pitch in the top of the seventh … Travis Lumby came in to pitch the bottom of the seventh ... Stephen Takahashi pinch hit in the bottom of the ninth ... It was the first time all year Pacific won back-to-back games.