SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara baseball fell behind 6-0 against Saint Joseph's Friday night and rallied to score nine straight runs, but could not hold off the Hawks. Saint Joseph's scored twice in the ninth inning to tie the game and twice more in the 10th to defeat the Broncos 11-9 at Schott Stadium on the third day of the Jack Gifford Memorial Tournament.
The Broncos (4-3) threatened to walk off in the bottom of the ninth with the contest tied at nine. With one out and a runner on third, Kyle Cortopassi pulled three pitches barely foul down the left-field line. He lined out to right field on the eighth pitch of the at-bat, and John Brue threw out Santa Clara pinch runner Evan Haberle at home on a tag-up attempt to deny the hosts the game-winning run.
The Hawks (2-1) tied the contest in the top of the ninth on back-to-back RBI singles from Matt Maul and Charlie Concannon. In the 10th, Deon Stafford, Jr. recorded his game-high fourth hit — an RBI double to right — and Brue followed with an RBI sacrifice fly into foul territory against Bronco reliever Travis Howard (L, 1-1).
Trailing 6-0 in the second, Santa Clara got on the board on an RBI single from TC Florentine and scored nine runs over the next four innings. John Cresto finished a single shy of the cycle and led the team with three RBIs. Cresto and Brodt each hit their second home runs of the season; Santa Clara tallied six extra-base hits for the second time in four games.
Neither starting pitcher made it past 12 outs — Steven Wilson allowed six runs (three earned) in 3.2 innings for the Broncos and Ryan Otero gave up seven runs (six earned) in 4.0 innings. Justin Aungst (W, 1-0) allowed one hit in two innings to earn his first victory of the season.
Santa Clara hosts No. 14 Michigan Sunday at 6 p.m. for the final game of the Jack Gifford Memorial Tournament. The Wolverines lost 5-1 to Cal Poly Saturday for their first defeat of the season. Left-hander Jason Seever (1-0, 1.59 ERA) takes the mound for Santa Clara in tomorrow's game against Michigan left-hander Evan Hill (1-0, 0.00).
GAME NOTES: First pitch was at 5 p.m. … time of the game was 3:47 … attendance was 309.