SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara baseball takes to the diamond for its fourth game in as many days, sixth game in seven days and eighth game in 10 days when it welcomes the No. 26 Nevada Wolf Pack to Schott Stadium for a 6 p.m. first pitch Monday night. It marks the third time this season that the Broncos face a ranked opponent, after an opening weekend matchup with No. 1 the Vanderbilt Commodores and a mid-March weekend series against No. 30 San Diego Toreros.
Each team played its conference series in the Bay Area over the weekend; Santa Clara won two of three games at home against Pacific and Nevada won two of three games on the road at San Jose State. The Wolf Pack is also playing for the fourth consecutive day.
Santa Clara overcame a 4-0 first-inning deficit by scoring nine of the final 10 runs Friday night to defeat Pacific 9-5. The Broncos rallied to overcome a multi-run deficit for the second game in a row as part of a 3-2 victory over the Tigers Saturday to clinch the team's first West Coast Conference series win of the season. Santa Clara fell behind 6-0 through the third inning Sunday, and fell a run short of the Tigers 7-6, leaving the potential game-tying run at first in a one-run ninth inning.
Nevada had its eight-game winning streak snapped Friday night against the Spartans, who walked off with a 5-4 victory. The Wolf Pack rebounded to set a season high for runs in a 22-1 victory Saturday — 21 runs is their largest margin of victory since 2010 — and clinched the series with a 4-2 win Sunday. Nevada has not lost a series in the 2015 season.
STARTING PITCHERS
SCU RHP Eric Lex (1-1, 3.27 ERA) - NEV RHP Michael Fain (3-0, 7.83 ERA)
QUICK PITCHES
Game 27: Monday, March 30, 2015 — 9 p.m. PST
Venue: Stephen Schott Stadium — Santa Clara, Calif.
Video:portal.stretchinternet.com/santaclara
Live Stats: www.santaclara.statbroadcast.com
Series Record: 84-48-2 SCU
First Meeting: 1908
Last Meeting: 4/8/14 NEV 9 - SCU 4 at Peccole Park
Last Season: Nevada won two of three games
2/14/14: NEV 4 - SCU 1 at Schott Stadium (Season Opener)
2/16/14: SCU 4 - NEV 3 (10 innings) at Schott Stadium
PITCHERS
Eric Lex makes his third start and fifth appearance of the season Monday night for the Broncos. In his last outing, Lex earned his first collegiate win by throwing 5.0 innings and allowing an unearned run on four hits with a walk and two strikeouts. In his last relief outing, the Redding, Calif. native issued a 1-2-3 ninth inning against the San Diego Toreros in the Saturday night game of a series at Schott Stadium. In his debut for the Broncos, Lex threw 4.0 innings and allowed four runs (three earned) on six hits with three walks and no strikeouts against UC Davis on Feb. 17. After the Aggies plated three runs in the first, Lex surrendered only one earned run through his departure at the end of the fourth. He tossed a 1-2-3 third inning and faced one batter above the minimum between the third and fourth.
Michael Fain makes his sixth start and eighth appearance of the season for the Wolf Pack. In his last outing, Fain allowed six earned runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts to earn the winning decision March 21 in a 17-6 victory over Cincinnati. As a sophomore, Fain was a part of the Nevada starting rotation, making 14 starts and going 4-5 with a 3.90 ERA. He made 26 appearances and one start during his freshman campaign, finishing the season wiry a 3-3 record alongside a 7.77 ERA.
Reece Karalus picked up three saves in a five-game and seven-day span March 22 against San Diego, March 24 at Grand Canyon and March 29 against Pacific. By earning his 19th save of his career in Santa Clara's Saturday matchup with the Tigers, Karalus ranks 3rd in program history. Anthony Rea (2001-05) and Mike McDonald (1994-97) share the program record with 25 career saves.
BRONCOS
Jose Vizcaino, Jr. went 8-for-23 with two doubles, a triple and two home runs alongside a team-best 10 RBIs and team-best seven runs scored over last week's five-game stretch. He slugged at a .783 clip as five of his eight hits went for extra bases and hit safely with at least one RBI in all five contests. He drove in the game's decisive run on an RBI triple in the sixth as part of a 9-5 Bronco victory Friday, and produced the game-deciding hit on a two-run scoreboard shot to left center field Saturday. He tops the Broncos with eight multi-hit games and is currently on an 11-game hitting streak.
T.J. Braff tied Vizcaino, Jr. with eight hits last week, and went 8-for-22 with a double, a home run, nine RBIs and four runs scored. He is one of three Broncos with a single-game high of four RBIs in 2015 alongside Vizcaino, Jr. and Stevie Berman.
Berman led the Broncos with six runs scored, six walks and a .455 on-base percentage last week. Since Berman's season debut March 13 at LMU, the Broncos have batted Grant Meylan, Berman and Vizcaino, Jr. in the top three spots of their lineup eight times — more than any other 1-2-3 combination this season. Each boasts an on-base percentage higher than .400: Vizcaino, Jr. (.457), Meylan (.456) and Berman (.426).
Grant Meylan has reached base safely in 25 of 26 games to start his college career, and done so multiple times in 19 of those games. He leads the WCC with 26 walks.
WOLF PACK
Nevada is hitting .303 as a team and has five regular starters batting .329 or better on the season, led by Ryan Howell at .400. He also tops the Wolf Pack with nine home runs and 40 RBIs in 28 games this season, while Trenton Brooks ranks second on the team with 31 RBIs. Nevada has nine batters with double-digit RBIs on the year.
Howell tops the club with a .790 slugging percentage (21 extra-base hits) and Austin Byler is slugging at a .720 clip (19 extra-base hits) on the season. Byler leads the team with 29 walks and a .547 on-base percentage.
Nevada has scored at least eight runs 11 times this season, including their two highest run totals since 2010 in a 17-6 victory over Cincinnati March 21 and a 22-1 victory over San Jose State March 28.