SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara baseball hosts its 2015 West Coast Conference home opener against the San Diego Toreros March 20-22 at Stephen Schott Stadium. First pitch times are Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m. For the second week in a row, the Broncos face an opponent picked to finish in the top three of the West Coast Conference from the preseason coaches' poll; San Diego was selected to finish third and last week's opponent, LMU, was picked to win the conference.
Santa Clara is coming off a 1-2 weekend in its WCC opening series on the road at 2015 conference favorite LMU. Steven Wilson allowed just one run in 8.0 innings in a 6-1 win Friday over the Lions as the Broncos plated multiple runs in three innings. On Saturday, Santa Clara jumped out to a 4-0 lead through the first three innings before Loyola Marymount rallied to even the series with a 6-5 extra-inning win. LMU won the series finale on Sunday with a four-run fourth innings en route to a 5-2 victory.
San Diego swept the Portland Pilots in its WCC-opening series at Fowler Park last weekend. The Toreros outscored the Pilots 16-5, and were the only team to win all three of its games on the conference's opening weekend. They also defeated Washington State 5-4 in a non-conference midweek matchup Tuesday at Fowler Park. The Toreros have won nine of their last 10 games, posting a 5-1 record against teams ranked No. 12 or higher during that span. The Toreros are ranked No. 30 by Collegiate Baseball.
PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS
Friday, March 20
SCU RHP Steven Wilson (2-1, 3.86 ERA) vs. USD RHP David Hill (3-2, 2.16 ERA)
Saturday, March 21
SCU LHP Kevin George (1-1, 2.88 ERA) vs. USD LHP PJ Conlon (2-1, 2.28 ERA)
Sunday, March 22
SCU RHP Peter Hendron (1-1, 6.11 ERA) vs. USD RHP Gary Cornish (0-0, 5.48 ERA)
Steven Wilson dealt 8.0 innings of one-run baseball Friday night to earn his second winning decision of the season in a 6-1 Santa Clara victory over LMU. The redshirt sophomore struck out six batters while allowing just four hits with one walk. He faced six batters in a one-run first inning for the Lions and faced no more than four in a single frame over the next seven innings.
The Bronco starter retired seven in a row from the third through the fifth and six in a row from the sixth through the eighth. Wilson, who made the first Friday night start of his career, has thrown a quality start in four of his five outings this season. The Littleton, Colo. native started in place of Jake Steffens, who was a late-week scratch.
Kevin George allowed five runs (two earned) on seven hits with three walks and a career-high eight strikeouts in 6.2 innings Saturday at LMU. George retired nine in a row before a pair of two-out errors kept the Lion fifth inning alive; LMU scored three in the fifth as part of their comeback.
Santa Clara starting pitcher Peter Hendron (L, 1-1) allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits with one walk and one strikeout in 3.0+ innings in a 5-2 loss Sunday at LMU.
David Hill threw a complete game shutout with 14 strikeouts against Portland Friday, allowing four hits with just one walk. He is the reigning WCC Rawlings Pitcher of the Week. Hill ranks seventh in the WCC with a 2.16 ERA. He also leads the WCC with 40 strikeouts.
PJ Conlon allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits with no walks and eight strikeouts in 7.0 innings of a 9-2 win Saturday to pick up the winning decision. Conlin ranks ninth in the WCC with a 2.28 ERA Gary Cornish allowed two earned runs on four hits with two walks and three strikeouts in 3.0 innings Sunday against Portland.
BRONCOS
Jose Vizcaino, Jr. played for the first time since March 1 last weekend, and leads the Broncos with a .391 batting average. He topped the Broncos with five hits, including a pair of two-run homers, against LMU in Los Angeles. The junior went hit .385 (5-for-13), led Santa Clara with five RBIs and tied for the team lead with four runs scored on the weekend. He missed the previous five games with a hand injury and had not started since March 1.
Vizcaino hit the fourth pitch of Friday's series opener over the left-center wall at Page Stadium to give the Broncos an early 2-0 lead. That would be the decisive hit of the game in a 6-1 Santa Clara victory.
T.J. Braff went 5-for-13 with a pair of doubles and three RBIs at LMU.
Stevie Berman made his first start of the season last Friday. He went 2-for-4 with a walk and a run scored.
Grant Meylan has reached base safely in all 18 games of his college career, and done so multiple times in 16 of those games. His .519 on-base percentage and 23 walks lead the WCC; the No. 2 batter has 15 walks.
TOREROS
Kyle Holder ranks seventh in the WCC with a .352 batting average. Colton Waltner is seventh in the conference with a .508 slugging percentage and is tied for eighth in the WCC with 15 RBIs alongside four players, including Vizcaino, Jr.
San Diego ranks fourth in the conference with a .281 batting average, third with a .349 ERA and first with a .984 fielding percentage. The Toreros enter the weekend as the only team to rank in the WCC's top four in those three categories. They have allowed four or less runs in 12 of 18 games this season, including five straight contests.
Rich Hill is in his 17th season as head coach of the Toreros. He enters the weekend with a record of 563-383-3 (.593 winning percentage). San Diego has won five WCC Championships under Hill: 2002, 2003, 2007, 2008 and 2010. San Diego set a program record with 40 wins in the 2012 season and earned the second at-large bid to an NCAA Regional in Torero history.
