SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara baseball begins West Coast Conference play against Bay Area rival San Francisco this weekend at Schott Stadium. The Broncos and Dons start off the conference slate Friday night at 7 p.m.
This weekend's series was originally scheduled to be hosted by San Francisco, but the Dons have not played a home game all season due to ongoing construction of Benedetti Diamond.
Santa Clara (7-8) vs. San Francisco (4-14)
Friday, March 18, 2016 | 7 p.m. PDT | Game #16 | Home Game #11
Saturday, March 19, 2016 | 6 p.m. PDT | Game #17 | Home Game #12
Sunday, March 20, 2016 | 1 p.m. PDT | Game #18 | Home Game #13
Santa Clara, Calif. | Stephen Schott Stadium
Live Stats: santaclara.statbroadcast.com | Video: TheW.tv
Series History
The Broncos and Dons have met 239 times on the baseball diamond and Santa Clara leads the overall series 160-78-1. Last season, San Francisco swept Santa Clara at Schott Stadium and outscored the Broncos 28-5.
The Dons have swept the Broncos in four of the last five seasons and won the series in six of the last seven seasons. They have also won six in a row at Schott Stadium; Santa Clara's last home victory over the Dons was a 12-6 win on May 9, 2010.
Probable Starters
Friday: SCU RHP Mitchell White (1-2, 1.69 ERA) vs. USF RHP Anthony Shew (0-2, 7.27 ERA)
Saturday: SCU RHP Steven Wilson (2-0, 3.26 ERA) vs. USF LHP Chase Gardner (0-2, 7.16 ERA)
Sunday: SCU LHP Jason Seever (2-0, 2.04 ERA) vs. USF RHP James Kannenberg (1-1, 4.22 ERA)
Tickets: Single-game options and season tickets are available. Click here to purchase tickets (link to single-game) For information, call (408) 554-4660 weekdays between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m. or email BroncoTickets@scu.edu. Schott Stadium opens one hour prior to first pitch. The ticket office is also open one hour prior to the start of the game.
Game Day Promotions
Friday: Red Fridays (Every Friday) — Come to the ballpark wearing your red Bronco gear.
Saturday: Bronco Baseball Bingo (Every Saturday) — Pick up a baseball bingo card from the marketing table and follow along while the Broncos are at-bat for your chance to win a prize.
Sunday: Sunday Run Day (Every Sunday) — Youth 12 and under are invited to run the bases immediately following the game.
Popcorn Player (Every Sunday) — If Santa Clara's leadoff hitter reaches base in any inning, popcorn is $1 at Bronco Concessions for the rest of that half inning.
Santa Clara's Last Series
Santa Clara won one of three games last weekend against UMass Lowell at Schott Stadium. The Broncos were shut out 3-0 on Friday and split a Saturday doubleheader with the River Hawks. Sunday's contest was canceled due to rain and will not be made up.
Broncos in the Field
Two Bronco starters are hitting .300 or better through 15 games: John Cresto (.339) and Stevie Berman (.321). Cresto leads the team with 20 hits; nine of which have gone for extra bases (four doubles, one triple, four home runs). He also tops the Broncos with a .644 slugging percentage.
More than half of Berman's 17 hits have gone for extra bases (six doubles, three home runs). The catcher leads Santa Clara starters with a .410 on-base percentage entering the weekend. He recorded the team's longest hitting streak of the year by hitting safely in the first nine games.
Kert Woods currently has a team-long hitting streak of five games. He has driven in a run in three of those five games.
Broncos on the Mound
Mitchell White enters the week tied for 10th in the NCAA with 36 strikeouts on the season. His 1.69 ERA is the lowest among Bronco starters and best among WCC pitchers. White has either set or matched a single-game best strikeout mark in each of his four starts this season. He allowed an unearned run in 6.0 innings and struck out 11 batters against UMass Lowell last Friday.
Steven Wilson got back in the groove in Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader against UMass Lowell. The redshirt junior allowed just an unearned run on eight hits with a walk and eight strikeouts in 6.2 innings to improve to 2-0. Santa Clara is averaging 6.75 runs/game in the four games Wilson has started this season.
Jason Seever is back in the rotation as Santa Clara's Sunday starter this weekend. The lefthander issued back-to-back quality starts as the Broncos defeated No. 13 Michigan 5-3 on February 28 and lost to Washington 4-1 on March 6.
Max Kuhns is tied for seventh in the NCAA with five saves. Both Kuhns and Nick Medeiros are tied for a team-high eight appearances; Medeiros has surrendered a run in only two of those outings and boasts a team-low 1.54 ERA entering the weekend.
Santa Clara's staff enters the week as the conference leader with 9.0 strikeouts/nine innings. The Broncos rank second in the WCC with a 3.30 ERA.
Milestone Watch
Dan O'Brien needs one win to reach 100 career victories as SCU's head coach.
San Francisco
The Dons began the year at 2-14 and have won their last two contests — a 5-0 victory over No. 4 Oregon State on Sunday and a 6-3 victory at San Jose State on Tuesday. They match up against UMass Lowell in Berkeley, Calif. on Wednesday night. San Francisco has had seven games decided by a single run and is 2-5 in those games.
Three of San Francisco's everyday starters are batting better than .300: Aaron Ping (.362), Matt Sinatro (.350) and Blake Valley (.339). Valley leads the team with 14 RBIs and is 5-for-8 on stolen base attempts. Sinatro is a perfect 6-for-6 on stolen base attempts.
James Kannenberg is the only San Francisco pitcher in this weekend's starting rotation to earn a winning decision entering the series. He pitched 6.1 shutout innings, allowing six hits and two walks last Sunday at Oregon State. Anthony Shew has allowed seven earned runs in each of his two starts this season. Chase Gardner finished with no decisions in a pair of one-run games and took the loss as the Dons were shut out last Saturday against the Beavers.
2016 Schedule Notes
- Santa Clara defeated a ranked opponent on opening weekend for the second straight season by defeating No. 24 Notre Dame 2-0 on Saturday, Feb. 20 and 4-2 on Sunday, Feb. 21. The Broncos won a Saturday contest at defending national champion and unanimous preseason No. 1 Vanderbilt last year.
- Santa Clara played seven of its first eight games at home; the only road game in that stretch was a Tuesday win at San José State on Feb. 23.
- The Broncos played 13 games in 17 days to start the season.
- Santa Clara plays 13 of its next 17 games at home. The only road series in that stretch is next weekend's trip to Hawaii.
- The Broncos face 2015 WCC postseason champion Pepperdine at home and 2015 WCC regular season champion San Diego on the road during consecutive weekends in April.
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