WATCH | EYEBRONCO's Highlights from the Victory!
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara baseball walked off on Joe Becht's RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning to defeat the Stanford Cardinal 6-5 Tuesday night at Schott Stadium. Becht's hit drove in the first run of the ballgame since the top of the sixth inning, and gave the Broncos their sixth straight midweek victory.
The Broncos (16-19) improved to 2-2 in extra-inning games this season, with all four of those games decided by a single run in the 10th inning. Tuesday's bottom of the 10th started with a double to left by Jake Brodt. With one out, Evan Haberle walked and Becht came through with the game-winning single through the left side.
"I went up there and just told myself 'you're going to do it'," Becht said. "I didn't think about any pitch. Whatever ball I saw, I was just going to put the bat on the ball and hope it went through."
"Joe's a winner," head coach Dan O'Brien said. "That's what we love about him. He flat out competed all night. I knew he was going to walk that thing off."
Evan Brisentine started for Santa Clara and picked up a no-decision in 5.2 innings. Brisentine allowed five runs on six hits with five walks and one strikeout. Josh Inouye (W, 2-0) got the win in 1.0 inning out of the bullpen and struck out two batters. Brodt was 3-5 with a home run, a double, two RBIs and a run scored to lead the offense. T.J. Braff was 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored while Becht was 3-4 with a walk and the game-winning RBI.
"I've just been trusting my preparation and taking a lot of swings in practice. I got an opportunity tonight and put the bat on the ball."
Chris Viall started for the Cardinal (14-20) and picked up a no-decision in 2.1 innings Viall allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits with two walks and one strikeout. Logan James (L, 2-4) got the loss in 2.0 innings out of the bullpen. Beau Branton was 2-5 with a double, two RBI, and a run scored to lead the offense. Drew Jackson was 2-6 with a triple, an RBI, and a run scored while Jonny Locher was 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
Jackson started the game with an infield single to shortstop. After a great diving catch by Braff in left for the first out, Tommy Edman singled through the left side. Zach Hoffpauir followed with a walk on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases but Brisentine got a pop up to third for the second out. Branton came through with a two run single to right but ended the inning when he was thrown out at second 9-2-6 trying to advance on the throw.
Kyle Cortopassi was hit by a pitch with one down in the bottom of the first. Jose Vizcaino, Jr. hit a grounder to second but a double-clutch by Matt Winaker let Cortopassi make it to second. Stevie Berman came through for the Broncos with an RBI single to center. Braff followed with a single to center as well but both runners were stranded.
Vizcaino walked with one out in the third and advanced to third base after an error on an attempted pickoff throw and a wild pitch. Berman followed with a walk that ended the day for Viall as Stanford brought in Colton Hock. On the first pitch from Hock, Braff hit a game-tying sacrifice fly to center.
Haberle doubled to left center with one down in the fourth and moved to third on a wild pitch. A walk to Becht put runners on the corners and Grant Meylan laid down a sacrifice bunt that gave Santa Clara its first lead of the game at 3-2.
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth and a runner on first, Brodt smacked his first collegiate home run off the top of the batting cages beyond the wall in left. The long ball gave Santa Clara a 5-2 lead.
"We've always said we're the best punch back team in the nation," Becht said. "In the last couple weeks, almost every team has scored in the first inning. We just knew we were going to score runs."
Stanford's Jonny Locher singled to left to cut the Santa Clara lead to two in the sixth and ended the day for Brisentine. Nick Medeiros issued a wild pitch for his first offering of the day that allowed Alex Dunlap to score from third. Jackson followed with a triple to left center that rattled out of Braff's glove as he hit the wall. With the game tied, Seever came in to pitch for Medeiros. After a walk, Haberle made a great diving stop at third and gunned the runner down at first to end the inning with the score 5-5.
Edman started the ninth with a single up the middle off the hand of Santa Clara pitcher Mitchell White. Hoffpauir followed with a single of his own to put the go ahead run in scoring position. A balk moved both runners up and Reece Karalus entered to pitch. He got two outs without a run coming in but hit the third batter he faced to load the bases. Karalus bounced back with a strikeout to escape the jam.
Santa Clara returns to action Friday, April 17 at No. 8 TCU. First pitch of the three-game set is scheduled for 4:30 p.m. PST.
Game Notes: First pitch was at 6:03 … Attendance was 327 … Time of game was 4:06 … with a 3-2 count and one out in the bottom of the 10th with the winning run on second, the infield sprinklers went off.
