SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Following the first weekend of West Coast Conference play, Santa Clara baseball hits the road to face Hawai'i in a nonconference set. The Broncos and Rainbow Warriors will meet for the first time since 2009 as part of a four-game series.
The upcoming slate marks the final nonconference series of the 2016 season. Santa Clara won one of three games last weekend against San Francisco at Schott Stadium.
Santa Clara (8-10) at Hawai'i (9-12)
Thursday, March 24, 2016 | 9:35 p.m. PDT | Game #19 | Away Game #6
Friday, March 25, 2016 | 9:35 p.m. PDT | Game #20 | Away Game #7
Saturday, March 26, 2016 | 9:35 p.m. PDT | Game #21 | Away Game #8
Sunday, March 27, 2016 | 4:05 p.m. PDT | Game #22 | Away Game #9
Honolulu, O'ahu | Les Murakami Stadium
Live Stats (All Games): Hawaii.statbroadcast.com | Video (Thursday): Time Warner Oceanic/BigWest.TV | Audio (All Games): TheW.tv
Series History
All-Time Series: Hawai'i Leads 15-10
First Meeting: 1971 | Last Meeting: April 7, 2009 — No. 23 Hawai'i won 8-4 at Schott Stadium
Santa Clara and Hawai'i last met on the islands in 2007 for the season-opening series Jan. 26-28. The Rainbow Warriors won two of three games.
Probable Starters
Thursday: SCU RHP Travis Howard (1-1, 3.00 ERA) vs. HAW RHP Brendan Hornung (2-4, 2.29 ERA)
Friday: SCU RHP Mitchell White (2-2, 1.34 ERA) vs. HAW RHP Kyle Von Ruden (2-1, 2.95 ERA)
Saturday: SCU RHP Steven Wilson (2-0, 2.70 ERA) vs. HAW LHP Alex Hatch (2-2, 4.50 ERA)
Sunday: SCU LHP Jason Seever (2-1, 3.63 ERA) vs. HAW TBA
Last Weekend
Mitchell White pitched 7.0 shutout innings and recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts, while Kert Woods accounted for both RBIs as the Broncos shut out San Francisco 2-0 in the 2016 WCC opener. Friday's win marked the 100th career victory for Dan O'Brien as Santa Clara's head coach.
The Dons rallied to overcome a 2-0 deficit with one run in the eighth and four in the ninth on their way to a 5-2 win Saturday. San Francisco claimed the series on the strength of a four-run fifth as part of a 6-3 win Sunday.
Broncos in the Field
In the first two games against San Francisco, TC Florentine went 7-for-8 with five doubles, a triple and two runs scored for an .875 batting average and a 1.750 slugging percentage. The senior entered last weekend's series with one extra-base hit on the season. Florentine raised his season batting average from .216 to .327 (111 points) by the end of the series; he has both hit safely and scored a run in four straight contests.
Stevie Berman leads the Broncos across the slash line (.338/.411/.585), as well as in doubles (seven) and RBIs (11). He is hitting .412 with runners on base, and shares the team lead in hits (22) with John Cresto.
Cresto tops the Broncos with four home runs and 13 runs scored, alongside eight multi-hit games. Grant Meylan has drawn a team-high nine walks and Jake Brodt ranks first on the Broncos with three stolen bases.
Santa Clara has hit 33 doubles this season and given up 16; the Broncos have 16 more extra-base hits than their opposition overall. The team is averaging 8.8 hits per game over its last five contests (1.5 hits more than the season average) and 3.4 runs per game (0.3 runs less than the season average). The Broncos have scored first in 13 of 18 games this season and are 7-6 in games when they score first. Neither Santa Clara nor its opponent has hit a home run in the team's last seven games; the Broncos hit one and the Washington Huskies hit two on March 5.
Broncos on the Mound
White's 48 strikeouts rank second in the NCAA. He leads the WCC with a 2-2 record and a 1.34 ERA. White has either set or matched a single-game best strikeout mark in all five starts this season.
Steven Wilson recorded his longest outing of the year by pitching 7.1 innings last Saturday. He allowed an earned run on six hits with two walks and three strikeouts. Wilson left in line for the win and finished with a no decision. Over his last two starts, the redshirt junior has allowed two runs (one earned) in 14.0 innings.
Jason Seever allowed five earned runs on five hits in 4.2 innings for the Broncos in Sunday's loss against the Dons. The lefthander won his first two starts of the season against ranked opponents — No. 24 Notre Dame on Feb. 21 and No. 13 Michigan on Feb. 28.
Max Kuhns picked up his sixth save of the season Friday night.
Hawai'i
The Rainbow Warriors won three of four games against Chicago State at Les Murakami Stadium last weekend. Chicago State two-hit Hawai'i in a 1-0 win Thursday and the Rainbow Warriors responded with a 4-0 win Friday and a 4-1 win Saturday. After claiming the series, Hawai'i won in a 14-0 rout of the Cougars on Sunday. The Rainbow Warriors allowed just two runs to the visitors all series. They have played 16 of their first 21 games at home and are 6-10 in home contests.
Jacob Sheldon-Collins leads Hawai'i with a .370 batting average and a .427 on-base percentage. Eric Ramirez tops the team with 11 RBIs as one of three Rainbow Warriors to start all 21 games entering the weekend. Kekai Rios has tallied five RBIs in his last three games.
Each Rainbow Warrior that is slated to start this weekend tossed a quality start his last time out. Brendan Hornung allowed an unearned run in 8.1 innings Thursday, Kyle Von Ruden pitched 7.2 shutout innings Friday and Alex Hatch gave up just an earned run in 6.0 innings on Saturday. Reliever Matt Valencia has allowed two hits in 9.0 innings.
2016 Bronco Schedule Notes
- Santa Clara beat 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 is slated to play four-game weekends four times during a five-weekend span from the end of February through the end of March.
- 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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