SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara baseball returns to West Coast Conference action this weekend as it plays host to the Saint Mary's Gaels. First pitch times are set for Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 6 p.m. and Sunday at 1 p.m.
After two weekends of conference play, Saint Mary's is tied for first place with BYU; each team has a 4-2 WCC record.
Santa Clara (11-12, 1-2 WCC) vs. Saint Mary's (13-9, 4-2 WCC)
Friday, April 1, 2016 | 6 p.m. PST | Game #24 | Home Game #15
Saturday, April 2, 2016 | 6 p.m. PST | Game #25 | Home Game #16
Sunday, April 3, 2016 | 1 p.m. PST | Game #26 | Home Game #17
Santa Clara, Calif. | Stephen Schott Stadium
Live Stats: santaclara.statbroadcast.com | Video: TheW.tv
Probable Starters
Friday: SCU RHP Mitchell White (2-3, 2.33 ERA) vs. SMC RHP Corbin Burnes (4-0, 1.74 ERA)
Saturday: SCU RHP Steven Wilson (2-0, 2.43 ERA) vs. SMC LHP Johnny York (2-2, 3.09 ERA)
Sunday: SCU LHP Jason Seever (3-1, 3.45 ERA) vs. SMC RHP Cameron Neff (1-2, 4.85 ERA)
Series History
The Broncos and Gaels have met 274 times on the baseball diamond and Santa Clara leads the overall series 160-114. Last season, the Broncos won two of three games at Louis Guisto Field. They have won four of the last six matchups overall.
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.
Country Mega Ticket Giveaway (Students) — Keith Urban with Brett Eldredge & Maren Morris (July 28)
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.
Parking: Baseball parking has changed for the 2016 season. Parking is now available in the Guadalupe lot, adjacent to 455 El Camino Real. The Guadalupe lot is reserved beginning 60 minutes before game time through the end of the event for free parking. Baseball parking is no longer allowed in the lot behind Schott Stadium's left field wall. Overflow parking is available in the Leavey Center lot. Spectators that plan to arrive more than an hour prior to game time on weekdays are encouraged to purchase a parking permit for the Leavey lot. Leavey lot parking is free on weekends. ADA parking is available in the lot directly in front of the main gates; there is no general public parking in this lot. Follow signs for parking instructions.
Last Five Games
Santa Clara played four games at Hawai'i and split the contests with the Rainbow Warriors, then defeated San José State at home.
Thursday — SCU 3 UH 1: Travis Howard made his first collegiate start and struck out seven batters in 6.2 innings for the Broncos.
Friday — UH 8 SCU 1: Hawai'i scored three runs in the first and tallied five more between the fifth and sixth innings to even the series.
Saturday — UH 3 SCU 2: The Rainbow Warriors were down to their last strike of the game facing a 2-1 deficit in the ninth, and scored a pair of runs on an RBI single and an error in the same play to walk off.
Sunday — SCU 5 UH 4: The Broncos scored four runs in the third and Hawai'i rallied for a two run ninth before Max Kuhns shut the door.
Wednesday — SCU 8 SJSU 5: Santa Clara drove in all eight of its runs with two outs in a late-innings shootout against the Spartans.
Broncos in the Field
Stevie Berman tops the team with a .304 batting average (t-Grant Meylan), .519 slugging percentage, eight doubles, and 14 runs scored (t-John Cresto). Four Broncos drove in two runs in Wednesday's victory: Meylan, TC Florentine, Jake Brodt and Kert Woods. Meylan is 8-for-15 (.533) with four RBIs in his last five games.
Meylan led the Broncos with five hits, a .500 batting average, a .583 on-base percentage and two RBIs (t-Brodt) last weekend. Hawai'i native Tyler Meditz went 4-for-12 with a double, a triple, an RBI and three runs scored.
On Sunday, the Broncos played error-free baseball for the first time in 10 games and third time overall on the season. They forced four ground ball double plays by Rainbow Warrior hitters, and did not ground into a double play in the series. Santa Clara also went errorless in Wednesday's victory over the Spartans.
Broncos on the Mound
Mitchell White ranks first in the WCC with 53 strikeouts and sixth with a 2.33 ERA. The redshirt sophomore is coming off his toughest outing of the season — he allowed five earned runs on nine hits in 5.0 innings last Friday at Hawai'i. White either set or matched a single-game best strikeout mark in each of his first four starts this season.
Steven Wilson has pitched at least 6.2 innings and allowed one run or fewer in each of his last three starts; he has a 0.87 ERA in that span. The redshirt junior allowed an earned run on three hits with four strikeouts to finish with a no decision last Saturday at Hawai'i.
Jason Seever pitched 6.1 quality innings for the Broncos in Sunday's 5-4 win over the Rainbow Warriors. He allowed two earned runs on six hits with three strikeouts to improve to 3-1 on the season. 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.
Nick Medeiros has limited opposing batters to six hits and three earned runs in 17.2 innings. Max Kuhns tops all WCC pitchers with eight saves on the year. The Bronco staff boasts a WCC low 3.39 ERA.
Saint Mary's
The Gaels are coming off back-to-back WCC series victories. They took two of three games at San Diego on opening weekend and against Gonzaga last weekend. Saint Mary's ranks sixth in the WCC with a .268 batting average and fourth with a 4.06 ERA.
Zack Kirtley tops the team across the slash line (.368/.489/.645) as well as in home runs (five, t-Nate Nolan), RBIs (17), walks (15) and runs scored (22). Joey Fiske is 7-for-8 in stolen base attempts. As a team, the Gaels have 31 more walks and 52 more strikeouts than their opponents.
Corbin Burnes enters the weekend at 4-0 with a league-best 1.74 ERA. He issued a complete game shutout and struck out six batters against Gonzaga Friday night. Johnny York pitched 5.1 innings and gave up three earned runs on five hits to finish with a no decision Saturday. Cameron Neff allowed four earned runs in 4.1 innings to take the loss on Sunday.
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 is in a stretch that features 13 of 17 games at home.
- 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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