SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara baseball won both games of a doubleheader to sweep its 2015 home-opening series against the Cincinnati Bearcats Saturday at Schott Stadium. The Broncos won a back-and-forth Game 1 10-8 and took the second game 8-4.
The Broncos combined for 18 runs on 23 hits in the two games, and scored multiple runs in six of their seven scoring innings Saturday. They also recorded a pair of quality starts and two saves from closer Reece Karalus as part of their second twin bill in as many Saturdays.
"We felt it was a great team weekend," Broncos head coach Dan O'Brien said. "As happy as we are with three wins, there are a lot of things we have to clean up … Our number one goal is to be more consistent as a team, and when we play good, clean baseball, we're a pretty good team."
"I definitely think this weekend really showed what we are made of," Broncos shortstop Jose Vizcaino, Jr. said. "There's nothing better than getting a sweep at home in front of these fans — it's awesome."
GAME 1: Broncos Plate Four in Eighth, Karalus Earns First Save in 10-8 Win
In the first game of the day, Cincinnati loaded the bases with no outs in the first on a leadoff walk to J.J. Carr and consecutive singles from Ian Happ and Ryan Noda. Bronco starting pitcher Steven Wilson struck out the next two batters and got Treg Haberkorn to line out to left to end the first.
Wilson, the reigning WCC Rawlings Pitcher of the Week, finished with a line of 6.0 innings and allowed three earned runs on six hits with two walks while matching a career high with nine strikeouts (May 24, 2014 vs. Pepperdine). He retired six in a row through the end of the second inning.
Santa Clara jumped on Cincinnati starter Dalton Lehnen (L, 0-2) in the first with an RBI double to right by Vizcaino, Jr. and an RBI sac fly to center by Ryan Budnick to go ahead 2-0. With one out, Jake Brodt hit a long fly ball to center field and Haberkorn made a diving catch to hold the Bronco first baseman to an RBI sac fly for a 3-0 Santa Clara lead.
"The best thing about this weekend was our aggression, especially in hitters' counts," Vizcaino, Jr. said. "We took some good swings and I think it definitely intimidated the guy on the bump."
The Bearcats strung four hits together to start the third — including a two-run double by Noda and an RBI double by Devin Wenzel — to tie the game 3-3. Wilson bookended a groundout with a pair of strikeouts to retire the next three batters and keep the score level.
Singles from Brodt and TJ Braff put Broncos on first and second with no outs in the fourth. Santa Clara took a 4-3 lead when Brodt advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error by Bearcat catcher Woody Wallace in the same sequence. Braff, who reached third on the error, crossed home plate on an Austin Fisher groundout to make the score 5-3.
In the sixth, Braff hit a solo home run to left field to give Santa Clara its biggest lead of the game at 6-3. Cincinnati rallied from a three-run deficit for the second time in the game and scored the tying run on Wenzel's sac fly in the seventh. Josh Inouye (W, 1-0) retired two of the three batters he faced after entering the game with one out and runners on second and third to keep Cincinnati from going in front.
Santa Clara's four-run seventh included a Vizcaino Jr. RBI double to left, two-run single from Budnick and an RBI single by Fisher that put the Broncos ahead 10-6. Vizcaino Jr. led the team with three RBIs and Budnick added two as each went 2-for-4.
In the eighth, Noda's two-out, two-run single off Kevin George cut the Bronco lead to two runs and brought the potential game-tying run to the plate in the form of Wenzel. The Broncos called on their closer Karalus, who caught Noda trying to steal second.
Karalus (SV, 1) closed out the save — his first of the season — with two strikeouts in a 1-2-3 ninth. The 2015 preseason All-WCC selection recorded 11 saves in 2014, the second-most in Santa Clara single-season history.
"What I make sure I keep in my mind is that there's just as much pressure on that batter as there is on me," Karalus said. "I force the batter to work. I'm not going to walk or hit anyone. If they're going to beat me, they'll have to do it through hits."
GAME 2: Broncos Put it All Together to Sweep Series with 8-4 Win
Aiming for the series sweep, the Broncos (4-3) quickly answered Cincinnati's one-run first with back-to-back homers homers to left; Vizcaino Jr. hit a two-run shot and Budnick followed with a solo long ball to make the score 3-1.
"I thought it was pretty cool that Budnick came up next pitch and hit the home run to make it back-to-back," Vizcaino Jr. said. "I've never been a part of that. Hopefully it's the first of many."
Vizcaino Jr. drove in three runs and Budnick drove in a pair as the No. 3 and 4 Bronco hitters combined for five of the team's seven RBIs in the nightcap.
Peter Hendron (W, 1-0) threw 6.0 innings and allowed two earned runs on four hits with three walks and seven strikeouts. He faced four batters or less three times as part of Santa Clara's third quality start in the series.
"They're all veterans, they're all third-year players and their maturity level is through the roof," O'Brien said. "All three of them are handling adversity better than they ever have."
Doug Lowe II (L, 0-1) took the loss in 5.0 innings for Cincinnati, allowing six earned runs on nine hits with no walks and one strikeout. Evan Brisentine and George each tossed a shutout frame for the Broncos in the latter innings.
Carr sparked a ninth-inning rally for the Bearcats (1-6) with a two-run single against Nick Medeiros to pull the visitors within four runs at 8-4. Karalus (SV, 2) entered in a save situation for the second time on the day, then struck out Happ and Noda to complete the three-game sweep.
"I've always loved the pressure situations — I always like to step up my game in those," Karalus said. "That's the closer job."
"Reece is one of the best competitors I've ever met," O'Brien said. "There's no one I'd rather have in the game with the game on the line than Reece Karalus … he's an absolute warrior."
Santa Clara welcomes the Eastern Michigan Eagles for a four-game homestand next weekend, beginning with a 6 p.m. first pitch Fri., Feb. 27.
DOUBLEHEADER NOTES: First pitch of Game 1 was at 3:03 p.m. … time of Game 1 was 3:19 … first pitch of Game 2 was 6:57 p.m. … time of Game 2 was 2:59 … attendance for the two games was 410.