Baseball Continues Local Midweek Games with San Jose State Matchup

Baseball Continues Local Midweek Games with San Jose State Matchup

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara Baseball is set to make the short trip across town for a Tuesday matchup against San Jose State University April 29 at 6 p.m. Tuesday's game marks the second and final meeting of the season between the cross-town rivals.

Last weekend, the Broncos took two of three games at home against the Loyola Marymount Lions, who entered the weekend as the second-place team in the West Coast Conference. In the series opener April 25, the teams combined for 10 runs in the first three innings and Santa Clara's late comeback bid fell short in a 6-5 loss. On April 26, the Broncos broke a 2-2 tie with multiple runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings to win 10-2. Santa Clara claimed the series with a three-run eighth April 27 to win 8-7.

Santa Clara jumped out to a 3-0 lead on a three-run homer by Stevie Berman in the first inning Tuesday, April 22 against Stanford. The Broncos and Cardinal traded punches the rest of the way, and Stanford came out on top 10-9.

Probable Starters

Tue., April 29, 6 p.m.

SCU: RHP Nick Medeiros (1-0, 6.06 ERA) at SJSU: LHP Johnny Melero (2-5, 5.87 ERA)

Live Stats and Internet Radio

David Gentile is slated to call Tuesday's game. Click here for an audio feed.

Click here to access live stats for Tuesday's game.

Stevie Berman Named WCC Rawlings Baseball Player of the Week (Click Here for the full release), College Sports Madness West Coast Player of the Week

The West Coast Conference announced its weekly baseball honors Monday, and Santa Clara's Stevie Berman has been named WCC Rawlings Baseball Player of the Week for April 28, 2014. Berman is the first freshman to win the player of the week award this season, which has now been handed out 11 times. 

During Santa Clara's weekend series, the catcher from Saratoga, Calif. went 5-for-11 (.455) with a double, two home runs, four RBIs, four runs scored and three walks. Berman played an integral part in the team's success as part of a two-games-to-one series win over the second-place Loyola Marymount Lions. He slugged at a 1.091 clip and notched a .571 on-base percentage. Berman also excelled behind the plate, committing no errors and limiting the conference's stolen base leader in LMU to 2-for-4 in the three-game set.

On April 26, Berman hit home runs in his first two at-bats and added a single and two walks to reach base in all five of his trips to the plate in a 10-2 victory. He hit a two-run double to put to Broncos on the board in the first inning April 29 in an 8-7 win, and went on to go 2-for-4 with two RBIs, a walk and a run scored.

Tuesday's Opponent: San Jose State

San Jose State enters the weekend with an overall record of 13-31, including a 6-17 record at Municipal Stadium. The Broncos and Spartans met on April 15 at Schott Stadium, a 10-7 win for San Jose State.

Last weekend, the Spartans lost two of three games to San Diego State at Tony Gwynn Stadium. In the opener April 25, the teams were tied at 1-1 heading into the 11th, when San Jose State scored a run in the top half of the inning and San Diego State scored runs on a throwing error and wild pitch to win 3-2. The Spartans broke a 5-5 tie with a four-run ninth April 26 to win 9-5 and even the series up. In the series finale April 27, the Aztecs produced a five-run second, a six-run fifth and a three-run eighth on their way to a 14-3 victory.

Dave Nakama is in his second season as head coach of San Jose State baseball, and has an overall record of 30-72 (.294 winning percentage) entering Tuesday's game. He spent 10 seasons with the Stanford Cardinal and most recently was the associate head coach at Washington from 2010-12.

West Coast Conference Standings (as of April 29, 2014)


The Broncos are currently in sixth place with a WCC record of 10-8.

At the end of the regular season, the top four teams in the conference earn a berth in the West Coast Conference Baseball Championship, a double-elimination format event held May 22-24 at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton, Calif.

Bronco Offense

The Broncos have produced double-digit hits in six of their last eight games, including 16 in an 8-5 win April 17 at San Diego. They recorded 23 hits combined in the last two games of last weekend's series against LMU, both Bronco victories. Prior to the last San Jose State game April 15, the Broncos had put up double-digit hits four times in their last 23 contests dating back to March 4.

Five Santa Clara batters hit better than .385 in the team's weekend series against LMU. Stevie Berman led the way by going 5-for-11 (.455) with four RBIs, a double, two home runs, five runs scored and three walks. Greg Harisis led the team with six hits and Quinton Perry posted a Bronco-best five RBIs and four walks.

After last weekend, nine Broncos have notched double-digit RBIs on the season, with Casey Munoz leading the way at 19 overall and Perry recording the most in WCC play with 12.

Jose Vizcaino, Jr. leads the team with 47 hits. He has a 12-game hitting streak for the Broncos and has produced a base hit in 16 of his last 17 games. Berman has recorded multiple hits in six of his last 10 games.

The senior duo of Harisis and Munoz was among the most productive offensive players last season, as Munoz led the Broncos in batting average (.308), hits (64), doubles (10) and RBIs (31) while Harisis led the Broncos in on-base percentage (.399) and stolen bases (13-for-15).

Bronco Pitching

Nick Medeiros — the third-most used pitcher for the Broncos in 2014 with 17 relief appearances— makes his first start of the season Tuesday at San Jose State. In his last outing April 22 vs. Stanford, Medeiros matched a season-high with 2.0 innings and allowed an earned run on one hit with one walk and one strikeout. He also pitched in the only meeting between the Broncos and Spartans this season, allowing three earned runs on four hits with a strikeout April 15 at Schott Stadium. The sophomore retired the first 10 batters he faced in 2014 over four outings from Feb. 14-22.

Reece Karalus is one of 18 pitchers in the country to lead his team in wins and saves as of April 27*. Karalus is currently 5-1 with eight saves, and is one of only two pitchers in the group with at least five wins and at least eight saves (Brendan McCurry – Oklahoma State). The Santa Clara sophomore picked up his fifth win of the season April 27 in 3.0 relief innings against Loyola Marymount.

*Information gathered and distributed by Michael Stambaugh – Bethune-Cookman University

Scouting San Jose State

Brett Bautista is the only Spartan with better than a .300 batting average at .310 on the 2014 season. Matt Lopez leads the team with 25 RBIs, 21 runs scored and 13 extra-base hits, and ranks second on San Jose State with 15 walks. Andre Mercurio currently has an on-base streak of 20 games for the Spartans. 

Johnny Melero makes his 12th start and 18th appearance of the season Tuesday. He earned the winning decision against the Broncos April 15 by allowing no runs on two hits with one strikeout. In his last outing April 22 at Cal Poly, Melero pitched one inning of relief and allowed an earned run with two walks against the No. 1 Mustangs. In his last start April 18 vs. New Mexico, Melero allowed 10 runs (five earned) on 11 hits with one walk in 2.2 innings. The senior made 25 starts between his sophomore and junior seasons as part of the Spartan weekend rotation.

Keep Your Enemies Closer

Santa Clara is one of 13 teams in the country to play at least 17 one-run games in the 2014 season*. The Broncos have a 9-8 record in games decided by one run. Four of Santa Clara's last six games have been decided by one run (2-2) and four of the team's last five losses have come by one run.

*Information gathered and distributed by Daniel Reude – University of Hartford

Welcome to the New Age

Several Santa Clara freshmen have seen a significant part of the action this season: Stevie Berman has made 42 appearances and 40 starts (42-40), Rory Graf-Brennen (24-8), Max Kuhns (18-14 in the field, five relief appearances), Kyle Czaplak (35-25) and Tyler Meditz (21-5).

Five of eight Bronco pitchers to make a start this season are underclassmen: sophomore Reece Karalus, sophomore Peter Hendron, sophomore Jacob Steffens, redshirt-freshman Steven Wilson and freshman Kevin George. The lone upperclassman in the weekend rotation is Friday night starter D.J. Zapata, who is in his second season of college baseball with the Broncos.

Reece Karalus Named to NCBWA Mid-Season Stopper of the Year Watch List (Click Here for the full release)

Reece Karalus is one of 50 players named to the mid-season watch list for the 10th annual National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Stopper of the Year Award, announced by the association Wednesday. The sophomore closer is one of only three West Coast Conference pitchers and one of only 16 underclassmen to make the list. The North Bend, Wash. native is 4-1 with a 2.27 ERA, eight saves and 30 strikeouts in 31.2 innings between 22 relief appearances and one start this season.

Santa Clara Bests Manhattan 10-2, O'Brien Earns 500th Career Win (Click Here for the full game story)

Bronco head coach Dan O'Brien won his 500th career game as the Broncos defeated Manhattan 10-2 on March 2. The third-year Santa Clara head coach won 454 games with his alma mater, UC San Diego, and collected his 46th win at Santa Clara in the victory over the Jaspers.

"There's been a ton of great memories and some big team wins in there, but I don't do this for the wins," O'Brien said after Sunday's game. "I coach for the countless lifelong relationships I've developed over the years. Those mean the world to me."

Peter Hendron Named College Sports Madness West Coast Player of the Week

Sophomore pitcher Peter Hendron was named the College Sports Madness West Coast Player of the Week for March 3, 2014. Hendron posted career high marks with 8.0 innings and seven strikeouts in a 10-2 win March 2 against Manhattan at the Sanderson Ford Baseball Classic in Surprise, Ariz. last weekend. He allowed two runs (one earned) on eight hits with two walks and held the Jaspers to 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position to earn the winning decision to improve to 2-1.

Greg Harisis Named Rawlings WCC Baseball Player of the Week

Greg Harisis won Irish Baseball Classic MVP honors with a stat line of 9-for-19, three RBIs, seven runs scored, two doubles, one home run and an outfield assist as the Broncos went 4-0 Feb. 20-23. He was named the WCC Rawlings Baseball Player of the Week, becoming the first Bronco to earn the honor since Patrick Terry on May 23, 2011.

First Pitch Change: May 17, 2014 vs. Saint Mary's

First pitch for the second-to-last home game of the 2014 season — May 17 vs. Saint Mary's — is now scheduled for 1 p.m. The game was originally scheduled to start at 3 p.m.