SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara baseball kicks off a six-game, West Coast Conference road trip when it travels to San Diego for a three-game set with the Toreros this weekend. First pitch times are set for 6 p.m. Friday, 6 p.m. Saturday and 1 p.m. Sunday.
The last time Santa Clara played at Fowler Park, the Broncos completed a historic three-game sweep of the Toreros as part of five straight WCC series wins that propeled the team into the 2014 WCC Baseball Championship.
Santa Clara (15-16, 3-6 WCC) at San Diego (18-18, 5-7 WCC)
Friday, April 15, 2016 | 6 p.m. PDT | Game #32 | Away Game #10
Saturday, April 16, 2016 | 6 p.m. PDT | Game #33 | Away Game #11
Sunday, April 17, 2016 | 1 p.m. PDT | Game #34 | Away Game #12
San Diego, Calif. | Fowler Park
Live Stats: sandiego.statbroadcast.com | Video: TheW.tv | Audio: TheW.tv
Probable Starters
Friday: SCU RHP Mitchell White (2-4, 3.04 ERA) vs. USD LHP Troy Conyers (4-4, 4.25 ERA)
Saturday: SCU RHP Steven Wilson (3-1, 2.76 ERA) vs. USD RHP Gary Cornish (4-2, 4.44 ERA)
Sunday: SCU LHP Jason Seever (3-1, 4.46 ERA) vs. USD LHP Nick Sprengel (2-5, 6.96 ERA)
Series History
All-Time Series: San Diego leads 61-56.
First Meeting: 1962
Last Season: No. 30 San Diego won two of three games at Schott Stadium.
March 20, 2015 — USD 2 SCU 1 | March 21, 2015 — USD 10 SCU 1 | March 22, 2015 — SCU 7 USD 1
Last Five Games
Tuesday, April 5 — SCU 10 CP 1: Freddie Erlandson pitched 6.0 shutout innings out of the bullpen and the Broncos scored six runs in the fifth.
Saturday, April 9 — PEP 7 SCU 1: Mitchell White matched a career-best night with 12 strikeouts, but was outdueled by Pepperdine's A.J. Puckett, who pitched 8.0 shutout innings.
Sunday, April 10 — SCU 5 PEP 4 (Game 1): Santa Clara built an early 4-1 and used 3.2 shutout innings out of its bullpen to even the series.
Sunday, April 10 — PEP 10 SCU 7 (Game 2): The Broncos scored six runs in the first inning — including a grand slam by Tyler Meditz — before the Waves mounted a comeback effort that featured four home runs.
Tuesday, April 12 — SCU 13 UNM 7: Santa Clara belted a season-high 15 hits and matched its season-best mark with 13 runs scored in a win over the Mountain West Conference-leading Lobos.
Broncos in the Field
TC Florentine is 9-for-19 (.474) in his last five games, including five RBIs and four runs scored. He made nine putouts in left field in Game 2 of Sunday's doubleheader against Pepperdine, then added seven more in split time between left field and center field in Tuesday's win over New Mexico. The senior is on a six-game hitting streak, and has multiple hits and an at least one RBI in five of his last six games.
Grant Meylan has reached base safely in 14 straight games, the longest such streak for Santa Clara in 2016. Florentine has an 11-game on-base streak and is hitting .457 in conference action. Tyler Meditz is also above .300 in WCC play at .308.
Florentine, Jake Brodt and Kyle Cortopassi have each driven in multiple runs four times this season.
As a team, the Broncos have scored 5+ runs in a single inning five times in the last eight games. They have scored double-digit runs three times in the last six games.
Broncos on the Mound
Mitchell White matched a career-high night with 12 strikeouts in Friday's 7-1 loss against Pepperdine. White has struck out 28 batters and issued only two walks in 20.2 WCC innings over three starts. His 70 strikeouts on the year are the most in a single season by a Bronco pitcher since Cory Hall fanned 80 batters in 2011.
Steven Wilson tops all Bronco starters with a 2.76 ERA on the season. He allowed four earned runs on nine hits in 5.1 innings to earn the win in Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader against Pepperdine. Prior to the Pepperdine start, Wilson had pitched at least 6.2 innings in four straight starts and allowed a single run in each of those starts.
Jason Seever pitched extended relief for the Broncos in Sunday's Game 2 defeat against the Waves. He allowed three earned runs on three hits with three walks and a strikeout over 5.1 innings. In the last two games Seever has made an appearance, the Broncos and their opponents have combined for 39 total runs.
Max Kuhns has saves in 10 of Santa Clara's 15 wins this season, and the Broncos have recorded a save in 12 of 14 victories overall (Nick Medeiros has two saves). Kuhns is tied for third on the single-season save list. Anthony Rea holds the program record for saves in a single season with 13 in 2004.
San Diego
The Toreros enter the weekend tied for sixth in the WCC with a 5-7 conference record. The team has scored 13 runs in each of its back-to-back victories; 13-7 over BYU on Saturday and 13-7 over UNLV on Monday. San Diego lost two of three contests against the Cougars last weekend; the Toreros scored three runs on 19 hits in the first two games and tallied 13 runs on 13 hits in the series finale victory.
Bryson Brigman tops the team with a .378 batting average and nine stolen bases. Ryan Kirby leads the club with 29 RBIs and Kevin Collard has six home runs.
Troy Conyers allowed seven earned runs on 10 hits in 6.0 innings of Thursday's loss and Gary Cornish gave up seven earned runs on seven hits in 5.1 innings of Friday's defeat. Nick Sprengel pitched 4.2 innings and allowed just an earned run on Saturday while Nathan Kuchta pitched 4.1 innings out of the bullpen to earn the victory.
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