SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Looking for a series win on getaway day, Santa Clara baseball took down Cincinnati by a final score of 6-1. The Broncos are now 12-37 overall while the Bearcats are 21-31.
The Broncos return to the field on Tues., May 14 at Stanford at 6 p.m.
Powell Fansler (1-3, 4.50) started for Santa Clara and got a win in 5.2 innings. Fansler allowed one run on five hits with two walks and no strikeouts. Chris Mendoza (2-2, 4.15) picked up his first save of the year by throwing 3.1 shutout innings out of the bullpen with six strikeouts. The offense was led by Casey Munoz who was 3-5 with a RBI and a run scored. T.J. Braff was 2-4 with a RBI while C.J. Jacobe was 1-2 with two walks and two runs scored.
Christian McElroy (3-6, 5.19) started for Cincinnati and got a loss in 5.0 innings. McElroy allowed five runs, one earned, on three hits with two walks and one strikeout. The offense was led by Justin Glass who was 2-4 and Matt Williams who was 1-4 with a RBI.
Cincinnati scored first in the bottom of the second to take a 1-0 lead. Williams led off with a single to left field and moved to third on consecutive groundouts. Ryan Quinn came through with the two-our RBI single to left to put the Bearcats on top.
The Broncos tied the game in the top of fifth. Jacobe led off with a single up the middle and Matt Ozanne laid down a sacrifice bunt. Braff came up next and singled through the middle to even the score at 1-1.
Santa Clara used a five-spot in the top of the sixth to put the game away. Kyle DeMerritt was hit by a pitch leading off the inning and Justin Viele followed with a walk. Both runners moved up on a wild pitch and Greg Harisis reached on an error by the shortstop that brought in a run and put runners on the corners. Munoz followed with a single through the left side to bring in a run and end the day for McElroy. Jacobe walked against new pitcher Matt Ring to load the bases with no outs and two runs already in. M. Ozanne hit a sac fly to right that advanced the back runners as well. After a strikeout, Drew Ozanne singled up the middle to bring in two more runs.
Ian Happ singled with one down in the bottom of the sixth and Glass singled to center with two down. Devein Wenzel drew a walk after a double steal to load the bases and end the day for Fansler. Mendoza came in and got Quinn looking to escape the jam.
Santa Clara loaded the bases in the top of the seventh with one down. Viele and Harisis walked and Munoz hit an infield single back to the pitcher but Jacobe grounded into an inning-ending 4-6-3 double play.
Mendoza was able to shutdown the Bearcats' offense the rest of the way to give the Broncos the 6-1 win.