SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara baseball fell behind by nine twice in the first three innings Saturday night, and battled back to score seven of the last eight runs in an 11-8 loss against Loyola Marymount at Schott Stadium. The Broncos and Lions are even up at one game apiece in the West Coast Conference series heading into Sunday's series finale.
Trailing 10-1 in the fourth, the Broncos (19-21, 6-11 WCC) got two runs back on Tyler Meditz's third home run of the series. Santa Clara pulled closer in the fifth as TC Florentine and Braden Frankfort hit RBI doubles to bookend an RBI single from Meditz and make the score 10-6. The Broncos and Lions (23-21, 11-9 WCC) combined for 29 hits, including 11 doubles and three home runs.
"For the first time all year, this team created an identity for itself in the face of adversity," Bronco head coach Dan O'Brien said. "They were tough to play, they were fearless and they never stopped competing. That's a far cry from the team that folded almost immediately when adversity hit earlier in the season. I'm proud of them for that."
LMU led 11-6 going into the bottom of the seventh, and the Broncos loaded the bases on three errors by the Lion infield. Austin Fisher grounded into an RBI fielder's choice for the second out of the inning, and the Broncos eventually left the bases loaded.
The Lions (23-21, 11-9 WCC) scored six runs on six hits in the first inning Saturday — they scored one run on five hits in nine innings Friday night. Five different batters drove in a run against Jason Seever (L, 5-2), who threw 5.0 innings and allowed 10 earned runs on 14 hits with two walks and no strikeouts for the Broncos (19-21, 6-11 WCC).
Blake Redman (W, 6-4) allowed six earned runs on 12 hits with no walks and four strikeouts in 5.0 innings for the Lions. Harrison Simon (SV, 1) pitched 4.0 innings out the bullpen and gave up two runs (one earned) on one hit with two walks and three strikeouts.
Bronco reliever Peter Hendron limited the Lions to an unearned run on two hits with a strikeout in 3.0 relief innings. Nick Medeiros inherited a runner on second base with no outs in the eighth and retired three of four batters to keep the Lions scoreless in that frame.
Following a three-run second and a leadoff homer in the third, Seever shut out LMU over his last nine outs. Santa Clara committed three errors in the first three innings and four overall for the game.
"It's too bad the effort was wasted because of their inability to make routine plays," O'Brien said. "You're not going win many ballgames at any level if you can't make the routine play, I don't care how hard you compete."
Meditz, Frankfort and Cresto are a combined 15-for-23 with 11 RBIs and 10 runs scored in the first two games of the series. They have tallied five hits apiece between Friday and Saturday. All nine LMU starters hit safely and scored a run; seven of them recorded an RBI.
The Broncos and Lions wrap up the series Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Mitchell White (2-5, 3.60 ERA) makes the start for Santa Clara against LMU's J.D. Busfield (3-4, 4.34 ERA).
GAME NOTES: First pitch was at 5:59 p.m. … time of the game was 3:20 … attendance was 282.
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