NASHVILLE, Tenn. — In its season opener against the No. 1 team in the country and defending national champion Vanderbilt, the Santa Clara Broncos fell 4-0 on opening night at Hawkins Field.
The Broncos begin the year at 0-1 and the Commodores are 1-0. Santa Clara and Vanderbilt play a doubleheader Saturday, with first pitch of game one at 12 p.m. CST (10 a.m. PST) and first pitch of game two roughly 30 minutes after the end of game one.
"When you factor in all the different circumstances that came into play tonight, I thought our guys did a great job," fourth-year head coach Dan O'Brien said. "Right now, the results aren't as important as our mentality. If this team goes about their business every game the way they did tonight, we're going to be a very tough ball club to compete against. That's all we want from this team, to be grinders, true competitors every night. And this team has that in them. I thought tonight was a great start to the season."
Santa Clara starting pitcher Jake Steffens (L, 0-1) threw 5.0+ innings and allowed four earned runs on eight hits with two walks and four strikeouts. Vanderbilt starter Carson Fulmer (W, 1-0) pitched 5.0 shutout innings and allowed two hits with three walks and seven strikeouts. Philip Pfeifer (SV, 1) earned the save in four innings of relief, allowing just one hit and one walk alongside five strikeouts.
In the first, each team picked up an extra base hit with one out — a Commodore triple by Rhett Wiseman and a Bronco double by Jose Vizcaino, Jr. — before consecutive outs ended each half inning. With two runners on and one out in the second, Steffens issued a fly out to Karl Ellison and groundout to Tyler Campbell to end the inning.
Vanderbilt broke through with one of only two scoring innings in the ballgame by tallying three runs in the third. Dansby Swanson hit a leadoff triple to straightaway center and scored on a dropped third strike that allowed Wiseman to reach first. Two batters later, Ro Coleman hit a triple down the right field line to give the Commodores a 3-0 edge.
The Broncos had runners aboard in four of the next five innings, and produced their biggest threat of the night when Kyle Cortopassi singled and Evan Haberle walked to put runners on first and second in the fifth. Fulmer recorded a pair of groundouts to end the inning before giving way to Pfeifer.
After Tyler Campbell led off the sixth with one of his game-best two hits, the Broncos called on Josh Inouye to make his Santa Clara debut. The freshman retired three in a row, beginning with Swanson, to end the inning. Wiseman followed Swanson's trip to the plate with an RBI groundout to make it 4-0.
Evan Brisentine pitched the final two innings, allowing only one batter to reach safely while striking out three. Bronco pitching held the Commodores to 2-for-18 with runners on base and 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
Grant Meylan walked twice in his Bronco debut, which he made alongside fellow freshman Inouye, Jake Brodt, Evan Haberle and Joe Becht. Junior transfers and former Edmonds Community College teammates TC Florentine and Ryan Budnick each reached base for Santa Clara.
UP NEXT: The Broncos and Commodores play a Saturday doubleheader, with first pitch of game one set for 12 p.m. CST (10 a.m. PST). First pitch of the second game will be approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game.
SATURDAY'S PROBABLE PITCHERS (2014 STATS)
Game 1: RHP Steven Wilson (1-3, 4.37 ERA) vs. VAN: LHP John Kilichowski (0-0, 1.57 ERA)
Game 2: RHP Peter Hendron (6-4, 4.34 ERA) vs. VAN: RHP Tyler Ferguson (8-4, 2.69 ERA)
GAME NOTES: First pitch was at 4:06 p.m. CST … time of game was 2:44 … attendance was 2,958 … weather at first pitch was 38 degrees and overcast.
