LOS ANGELES — Santa Clara baseball scored its first West Coast Conference runs of the season on the fourth pitch of its WCC opener and Steven Wilson allowed just one run in 8.0 innings in a 6-1 win Friday over LMU at Page Stadium. The Broncos plated multiple runs in three innings and limited the conference favorites to one run on four hits in the victory.
Santa Clara now owns a three-game winning streak over LMU, going back to its April series with the Lions last season at Schott Stadium.
"After several years of struggling out of the gate in conference, it's great to get a win in our opener, especially on the road against a tough team," head coach Dan O'Brien said. "That said, our conference is a grind. For as well as we played tonight, we need to get locked in to compete again tomorrow."
In his first game since March 1, Jose Vizcaino, Jr. hit the fourth pitch of the contest over the wall in left center field to put the Broncos (8-8, 1-0 WCC) ahead 2-0. The Lions (9-8, 0-1 WCC) responded in the home half the first with a solo home run by Tanner Donnels down the right field line.
Wilson (W, 2-1) matched a career high with 8.0 innings pitched and held the Lions to one earned run on four hits with one walk and six strikeouts. LMU sent six batters to the plate in the first inning, and had no more than four step up to bat in any of the last eight frames. The Littleton, Colo. native started in place of Jake Steffens, who was a late-week scratch for the Broncos.
"Steven stepped up big time tonight," O'Brien said. "When you have your Friday guy go down and your Saturday guy deal like that in his place, you know you're dealing with a winner, and a team that knows how to pick eachother up."
"When I went down last year, it was Jake who picked me up in that Sunday role," Wilson said. "It was awesome to bring that full circle in the start tonight."
The Bronco starter retired seven in a row from the third through the fifth and six in a row from the sixth to the eighth. Wilson, who made the first Friday night start of his career, has thrown a quality start in four of five outings this season.
"I honestly didn't have my curveball tonight and that put me in a hole to start," Wilson said. "Being able to go in and out with my fastball was the biggest thing — throw a two-seamer every now and then. I got a changeup across when I needed to get the hitters off balance.
"Early last year, I was in my own head a lot. I wasn't throwing as many strikes and was walking a lot of batters. At the end of the season, I started to get in a good place mentally. I carried that through the summer and have tried to hold on to it this year."
LMU starter Colin Welmon (L, 2-3) threw 6.0+ innings and allowed five runs (four earned) on eight hits with three walks and nine strikeouts. Welmon allowed only four earned runs in 26.1 innings over four starts to begin the season. Lion relief pitcher Tyler Cohen finished out the game by striking out five of the seven batters he faced in scoreless eighth and ninth innings.
TC Florentine hit a two-out, two-run single to make the Bronco lead 4-1 in the third. Santa Clara recorded seven of its nine hits and scored four of its six runs in the first three innings of the victory. The Broncos added their fifth and sixth runs on an error and a Jake Brodt RBI groundout in back-to-back plays during the seventh inning.
Vizcaino, Jr. went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, three runs scored and a walk; he matched Florentine with a game-high two RBIs. In his first start of the season, Stevie Berman went 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored.
"Jose and Stevie are game changers," O'Brien said. "I thought the team did a good job of picking up Stevie until he got healthy, but you can't ignore how he and Jose change the dynamic of our lineup immediately. They're pretty special."
Mitchell White struck out the side for the Broncos in the ninth inning to close down the game.
The Broncos and Lions return to Page Stadium for a 6 p.m. first pitch Saturday. Santa Clara's Kevin George (1-1, 2.95 ERA) is scheduled to start against LMU's Trevor Megill (1-2, 6.32 ERA).
GAME NOTES: First pitch was at 6:03 p.m. … time of game was 2:48 … attendance was 191 … Kyle Cortopassi left the game in the third inning after bunting a pitch foul off the right side of his face in the second inning.
