WATCH | Kyle Cortopassi "Inside the WCC" Interview
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Following the southernmost West Coast Conference road trip of the season, Santa Clara baseball heads out for the northernmost trip this weekend at Gonzaga. The Broncos and Bulldogs meet for a three game series at Patterson Baseball Complex & Washington Trust Field.
Santa Clara won one of three games last weekend at San Diego. Gonzaga enters the series tied for first place in the WCC with BYU and Saint Mary's at 10-5.
Santa Clara (16-18, 4-8 WCC) at Gonzaga (22-12, 10-5 WCC)
Friday, April 22, 2016 | 6:05 p.m. PDT | Game #35 | Away Game #13
Saturday, April 23, 2016 | 6:05 p.m. PDT | Game #36 | Away Game #14
Sunday, April 24, 2016 | Noon PDT | Game #37 | Away Game #15
Spokane, Wash. | Patterson Baseball Complex & Washington Trust Field
Live Stats: CBS GameTracker | Video: TheW.tv | Audio: TheW.tv
Probable Starters
Friday: SCU RHP Mitchell White (2-5, 3.60 ERA) vs. GON RHP Brandon Bailey (5-2, 1.61 ERA)
Saturday: SCU RHP Steven Wilson (3-2, 2.98 ERA) vs. GON RHP Eli Morgan (6-1, 3.93 ERA)
Sunday: SCU LHP Jason Seever (4-1, 4.17 ERA) vs. GON TBA
Series History
All-Time Series: Gonzaga leads 44-42
First Meeting: 1973
Last Season: Santa Clara won won two of three games at Schott Stadium.
April 24, 2015 — GON 14 SCU 1 | April 25, 2015 — SCU 5 GON 2 | April 26, 2015 — SCU 6 GON 5
Last Four Games
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.
Friday, April 15 — USD 9 SCU 4: Santa Clara held leads in the first and sixth innings, and committed four late errors that led directly to four San Diego runs; the Toreros scored seven times in the last three innings.
Saturday, April 16 — USD 7 SCU 1: The Toreros brought across four runs in the second inning on their way to a series-clinching win.
Sunday, April 17 — SCU 7 USD 5: Jason Seever pitched a career-high 7.0 innings and Santa Clara shut down San Diego rallies in each of the last three innings to win the series finale.
Broncos in the Field
TC Florentine has hit safely in eight of his last nine games, and tops the Broncos with a .404 batting average in conference action. The senior has multiple hits in seven of his last nine games and 11 RBIs during that stretch. He leads the team with 11 multi-hit games and five multi-RBI games.
Grant Meylan had his 15-game game on-base streak come to an end Saturday night — it stands as the longest suck streak for the Broncos this season. Jake Brodt and Kyle Cortopassi have each driven in multiple runs four times this season.
The Broncos have won a game on four straight Sundays and are 4-1 during the last four Sundays (they split a doubleheader on April 10 against Pepperdine). Santa Clara committed 10 errors between its three games at San Diego.
Broncos on the Mound
Mitchell White struck out 10 batters in 6.2 innings and allowed eight runs (six earned) on seven hits with three walks Friday. He struck out the side in the first and fifth innings. White has struck out double-digit batters in five of his 10 weekend starts this year. White has struck out 38 batters and issued only five walks in 27.1 WCC innings over three starts. His 80 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 2.98 ERA on the season. Wilson (L, 3-2) threw 5.2 innings and allowed six runs (three earned) on six hits with a walk and four strikeouts Saturday. He struck out the side in order to start off the contest in the first, and sat the Toreros down 1-2-3 in the third and fourth innings.
Jason Seever pitched a career-high 7.0 innings, struck out five batters and allowed three runs (two earned) on seven hits with a walk in Sunday's win. He held San Diego to 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position; both those hits came in the first inning and neither scored a run. The lefty picked Riley Adams off of second base to end the first and capped the second through fourth frames with a strikeout. In the last two games Seever has made an appearance, the Broncos and their opponents have combined for 51 total runs.
Max Kuhns has saves in 11 of Santa Clara's 16 wins this season, and the Broncos have recorded a save in 13 of 16 victories overall (Nick Medeiros has two saves). Kuhns is tied for second with Reece Karalus on the single-season save list. Anthony Rea holds the program record for saves in a single season with 13 in 2004.
Gonzaga
The Bulldogs top the WCC with a .978 fielding percentage and rank second in the conference with a .306 batting average. Gonzaga dropped two of three games last weekend at San Francisco. The team is 6-1 at home this year.
Taylor Jones leads the offense with a .372 batting average as one of seven everyday starters hitting north of .300. Tyler Frost has a team-high 35 RBIs and Jeffrey Bohling has 22 extra-base hits. The Bulldogs have legged out 17 triples this year.
Brandon Bailey and Eli Morgan are a combined 11-3 this season. Gonzaga's .256 opposing batting average ranks second in the conference only to BYU (.248). They have allowed 14 stolen bases, fewest in the conference this year.
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