SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Mitchell White delivered a career-best performance with nine strikeouts in eight innings to help Santa Clara defeat Utah Valley 9-2 Friday night. The Broncos also had nine different players record a hit in the victory as part of the Jack Gifford Memorial Tournament at Schott Stadium.
White (W, 1-1) allowed just one batter to reach for the Wolverines (3-3) through seven innings, and earned his first collegiate win as a starter. The San Jose, Calif. native has now set career highs for innings and strikeouts in each of his last two appearances.
"Mitchell was outstanding tonight, and what's exciting is he's just getting started," head coach Dan O'Brien said. "When you look at how far he's come in such a short period of time, it's hard not to get excited about his ceiling. The sky is the limit for that kid."
Santa Clara's five through nine batters accounted for six of the team's nine hits and seven of the team's eight RBIs. The Broncos (4-2) had two players notch their first career RBIs from that part of the order — Austin Reyes drove in the first run of the game on a squeeze bunt to score Kyle Cortopassi in the second and Matt Smithwick hit a two-run homer to right in the fifth.
Smithwick tied for the Bronco lead with two RBIs alongside Cortopassi and Kert Woods. Cortopassi hit a two-run triple and Woods followed with an RBI single as part of a four-run sixth that put the Broncos ahead 9-0.
"The bottom line is that our ballclub showed up to compete tonight," O'Brien said. "When they do that, and play the game the way it should be played, there are no limits to what this group can accomplish — I truly believe that. But it's not for me to believe. It's really up to them. It's their ballclub now."
Wolverine starting pitcher Danny Beddes (L, 1-1) allowed five runs (three earned) on six hits with three walks and five strikeouts. Zac Willis hit an RBI single and Ryne Edmondson added an RBI triple for Utah Valley as the team brought home two runs in the eighth — its only scoring inning of the night.
In his collegiate debut, Santa Clara freshman Freddie Erlandson struck out one batter in a scoreless ninth. His effort completed Santa Clara's biggest win of the season through six games.
Santa Clara hosts Saint Joseph's Saturday night at 5 p.m. Bronco right-hander Steven Wilson will take the mound against Hawk right-hander Ryan Otero.
Game Notes: First pitch was at 6:30 p.m. … the start time was moved back by 30 minutes following the conclusion of the Saint Joseph's-UC Davis game … time of the Santa Clara game was 2:35 … attendance was 318.
