PORTLAND, Ore. — Santa Clara baseball fell behind 2-0 against Portland Saturday afternoon at Joe Etzel Field before rallying for seven unanswered runs over the last four innings to win 7-2. The Broncos have clinched their third straight West Coast Conference series win and have won a season-high four consecutive WCC matchups.
The Broncos (23-26, 10-13 WCC) broke through in the sixth on Ryan Budnick's leadoff single and Kyle Cortopassi's two-out, RBI single to drive in the Santa Clara first baseman and make the score 2-1 Portland. Budnick tied the game one inning later with a two-out, RBI single to score TJ Braff.
"It really wasn't a comeback to us as much as it was just a great job of handling early adversity, not panicking, and staying with our approach," head coach Dan O'Brien said. "This team has learned to take a punch, and it's paying off."
In the eighth, the Broncos used four straight one-out hits, including RBI singles from Jose Vizcaino, Jr. and Stevie Berman, to go ahead 4-2 against the combined efforts of Portland relievers Alex Fisher and Carl Snaring. After Berman's base hit, Braff reached on an error by Pilot second baseman Kevin Farley to bring home Santa Clara's fifth run of the game. The Broncos scored twice more in the seventh on an RBI fielder's choice by Vizcaino, Jr. and an RBI single by Berman; the No. 3 and No. 4 hitters struck again on their way to a co-team best two RBIs each in the victory.
Santa Clara has recorded 84 base hits in its last seven conference games, and averages 12 hits per games over that span. The Broncos have recorded double-digit hits in each of those last seven contests after posting double-digit hits just twice in its first 16 WCC games of the season.
Our offensive approach has been consistent, that's the bottom line. Our guys are not letting anything get them away from their approach," O'Brien said. "That was an issue early in the year — our offense was very emotional — but now they've settled it, and it's fun to watch."
Eric Lex pitched a career high 7.0 innings and allowed two earned runs on six hits with no walks and two strikeouts for the Broncos. Lex (W, 4-4) retired six of the first seven batters he faced, and sat down seven batters in a row through his departure after the seventh. The Pilots (10-38, 5-18 WCC) scored their only runs on consecutive plays in the third inning; Brady Kerr hit an RBI single and Turner Gill drove the first pitch of his at-bat to the left center field gap for an RBI double.
"Lex did a great job today considering he didn't have his best stuff and wasn't as sharp as he's been," O'Brien said. "He competed, used his defense, and kept us in the ballgame until our offense got going. That showed a lot of maturity out of a young player."
Mitchell White relieved Lex in the eighth and threw 2.0 shutout innings with two strikeouts, allowing only a hit to the Pilots. White (SV, 5) earned his second save in as many days, and has recorded either a win or a save in seven of his last eight outings. The Broncos turned a 3-6-3 double play off the bat of Gill to end the Portland eighth.
Pilot starter Kurt Yinger threw 7.1 innings and allowed four earned runs on nine hits with no walks and four strikeouts. Yinger (L, 2-9) was perfect through the first eight batters of the game, and faced one batter above the minimum through the end of the fifth; the Broncos had only two baserunners through the first five innings.
Grant Meylan, Cortopassi, Braff, Berman and Budnick all posted multiple base knocks as part of Santa Clara's 13-hit afternoon. Kerr and Gill recorded two hits and an RBI apiece for Portland.
Santa Clara RHP Steven Wilson (3-3, 3.57 ERA) faces Portland RHP Davis Tominaga (1-5, 4.12 ERA) in Sunday's series finale, which is set for 1 p.m. PDT. The Broncos are looking for their first WCC sweep of the season.
GAME NOTES: First pitch was at 1:04 p.m. … time of the game was 2:35 … attendance was 367 ... Lex had a prior career high of 5.1 innings pitched April 12, 2015 at Pepperdine and May 2, 2015 at Saint Mary's.
