SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara baseball plays its first West Coast Conference road series in a month when it heads to Malibu to face Pepperdine for a weekend series Friday-Sunday. The Broncos fell in all three games at home against San Francisco last weekend before defeating crosstown rival San Jose State 3-2 at Schott Stadium Tuesday. The Waves have won five of their last six games in the WCC.
Facing the Dons, the Broncos gave up a combined 17 runs in the eighth and ninth innings of each of the three games. On Thursday, the Broncos trailed 3-1 heading into the eighth inning before San Francisco scored the game's last six runs to win 9-1. On Friday, San Francisco plated nine runs in the eighth to break open a 3-3 tie en route to a 13-4 victory and on Saturday, the Broncos were shut out 6-0. Santa Clara used a career-high 7.0 innings pitched from Evan Brisentine and Reece Karalus picked up his ninth save of the season in a 3-2 victory over the Spartans.
The Waves won two of three games against Pacific in Stockton last weekend, and swept the Portland Pilots on the road during the last weekend in March. Pepperdine has split its last two midweek contests with Cal Poly; the Waves walked off for a 9-8 win in 10 innings March 31 and the Mustangs won 9-1 in a Wednesday night contest earlier this week in San Luis Obispo.
LEADING OFF
Game 32: Friday, April 10, 2015 — 3 p.m. PST
Game 33: Saturday, April 11, 2015 — 1 p.m. PST
Game 34: Sunday, April 12, 2015 — 1 p.m. PST
Venue: Eddy D. Field Stadium — Malibu, Calif.
Video: TheW.tv
Audio: portal.stretchinternet.com/santaclara (David Gentile)
Live Stats: www.pepperdine.statbroadcast.com
Series Record: 98-59-2 PEP
First Meeting: 1960
Last Meeting: 5/22/14 PEP 5 - SCU 2 (WCC Baseball Championship)
2014 Regular Season: Pepperdine won three games at Schott Stadium
3/21/14: PEP 1 - SCU 0
3/22/14: PEP 4 - SCU 2
3/23/14: PEP 10 - SCU 0
STARTING PITCHERS (SCU-PEP)
Friday, April 10
RHP Steven Wilson (3-3, 3.71 ERA) - RHP Jackson McClelland (5-2, 1.74 ERA)
Saturday, April 11
LHP Kevin George (2-2, 3.70 ERA) - RHP A.J. Puckett (3-4, 4.83 ERA)
Sunday, April 12
RHP Eric Lex (2-2, 4.12 ERA) - LHP Ryan Wilson (5-1, 3.10 ERA)
BRONCOS
Steven Wilson makes his ninth start of the season for the Broncos Friday. Wilson allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits with a walk and five strikeouts in 6.0 innings Thursday against USF. He retired seven straight batters from the end of the first through the end of the third, and faced only two batters above the minimum — with three 1-2-3 innings — in his last five frames. Santa Clara is 5-3 on the season with the Littleton, Colo. native as its starting pitcher; Wilson has pitched at least 6.0 innings in eight appearances with six quality starts. He has walked one batter or fewer in each of his last six games.
Kevin George makes his 13th appearance and seventh start of the season Saturday. He allowed two earned runs on seven hits with three walks and four strikeouts in 6.0 innings last Friday against USF. George made his first six appearances of the season out the bullpen, and has served as a starting pitcher in his last six outings. He set career highs with 7.0 innings pitched and seven strikeouts in his first start of the season March 3 at Cal Poly, then broke his career strikeout mark with eight March 14 at LMU.
Eric Lex makes his fifth start and seventh appearance of the season Sunday. He allowed five earned runs on six hits with four walks and a strikeout last Saturday vs. USF. Lex has allowed 20 hits on the season; 18 of those hits have gone for singles and only two for extra bases (two doubles). He did not allow an earned run over an 11.2 inning span March 1 - April 4.
Reece Karalus has picked up five saves in an 11-game span March 22 against San Diego, March 24 at Grand Canyon, March 29 against Pacific, March 30 against Nevada and April 7 against San Jose State. He ranks 3rd in program history with 21 career saves. Anthony Rea (2001-05) and Mike McDonald (1994-97) share the program record with 25 career saves.
Jose Vizcaino, Jr. (.378/.456/.694) leads the Broncos in most major offensive categories, including home runs (6), RBIs (25) and stolen bases (7). Vizcaino, Jr. and Stevie Berman each recorded six hits for the Broncos in their four games March 30 - April 4. Berman and Austin Fisher tied for a team-high two RBIs. Vizcaino, Jr., Berman and Tyler Meditz each recorded multiple extra-base hits over that span.
Vizcaino, Jr. owns a team-best and career-long 16-game hitting streak; his previous career long was 14 games, spanning between the last six games of 2014 and first eight games of 2015.
Grant Meylan has reached base safely in 30 of 31 games to start his college career, and done so multiple times in 20 of those games. He leads the WCC with 29 walks.
WAVES
Pepperdine ranks fifth in the conference in batting average (.271), sixth in ERA (4.17) and seventh in fielding percentage (.966). Reigning WCC Player of the Week Hutton Moyer leads everyday starters with a line of .313/.412/.594. Moyer and Brad Anderson are the only two Waves to appear in all 34 games; Anderson leads the team with 28 RBIs.
Both Jackson McLelland and Ryan Wilson have earned five winning decisions on the year, and each of the three Waves weekend starters has thrown at least 50.0 innings through eight outings this season. Chandler Blanchard has recorded all four saves for Pepperdine this season.