SANTA CLARA, Calif. — In the 2014 WCC opening series finale, the Santa Clara Broncos lost 10-0 to the Pepperdine Waves Sunday afternoon at Stephen Schott Stadium. After five scoreless innings to start the game, the Waves put up 10 runs in the last four frames to win for the third time in as many days.
Redshirt freshman starting pitcher Steven Wilson (L, 0-2) threw 5.2 innings and allowed three earned runs on three hits with two walks and a career-high nine strikeouts. He retired 10 consecutive batters from the second out of the first to the second out of the fourth, including striking out the side in the third for the Broncos (9-14, 0-3 WCC).
Pepperdine junior Aaron Brown (W, 4-1) threw 8.0 shutout innings and gave up three hits with three walks and seven strikeouts for the Waves (17-6, 4-2 WCC). The 6-foot-1, 222-pound left-hander limited the Broncos to one hit between the third and eighth innings.
Santa Clara picked up a one-out single from sophomore center fielder Kert Woods in the first and a leadoff single from senior left fielder Casey Munoz in the second, but sent the minimum to the plate in both innings. They also loaded the bases in the fourth and had Woods hit a double to right in the sixth.
Brown, who also started at designated hitter, opened the scoring with a two-run, line drive home run to right center to put Pepperdine in front 2-0 in the sixth. Freshman catcher Aaron Barnett added to the visiting total with a two-out, RBI single to right later in the inning. Brown hit his second home run of the game two innings later to make the score 5-0. Pepperdine added five runs and batted around in the ninth to make the score 10-0.
Sunday's game marked the second time this season that Brown homered and picked up a win, which he also did March 1 vs. Hawaii. Entering the weekend, he was one of five Division I pitchers to accomplish that feat in 2014.
The Broncos head to San Diego State for a Tuesday-Wednesday pair of games March 25-26 prior to its first road series in 2014 WCC play at Pacific March 28-30. First pitch March 25 is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Game Notes: First pitch was at 1:01 p.m. … time of game was 2:45 … attendance was 352 … the teams combined to use 11 pinch hitters.
