STANFORD, Calif. — Santa Clara baseball fell behind 7-1 after a couple of early big innings by Stanford, and could not recover in a 10-3 loss Tuesday night at Sunken Diamond. The Broncos finish their midweek slate of the 2016 season at 5-3.
The Broncos (20-26) won their previous three games against the Cardinal (24-19) dating back to the first matchup of 2015. Santa Clara and Stanford split their two matchups this season.
"As tough as it is to have a season like we've had, it still doesn't excuse a less than a 100 percent effort out of everyone in our program," Bronco head coach Dan O'Brien said. "We simply were not ready to compete tonight and that's on me. I promise you this, we will compete hard for the final six games of this season. It's my job to make sure that happens and it will."
Stanford scored two runs in the first inning on an RBI sacrifice fly from Quinn Brodey and an RBI single by Alex Dunlap. The Cardinal tacked on four runs in the second inning; all with two outs. Matt Winaker started the rally with an RBI single, followed by a two-run double from Tommy Edman and an RBI single from Brodey.
Bronco starter Travis Howard (L, 2-4) allowed six earned runs on eight hits in 2.0 innings. Stanford's Andrew Summerville (W, 4-2) pitched a quality start by holding Santa Clara to two earned runs on seven hits with a walk and two strikeouts in 6.0 innings.
Kert Woods and Ryan Budnick hit back-to-back doubles with two outs for the Broncos in the second to make the score 2-1 Stanford. Santa Clara loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth and added a run on Kert Woods' RBI groundout. The Broncos scored their third and final run on Stevie Berman's RBI double in the seventh.
The teams combined for 11 extra-base hits; Santa Clara had five doubles while Stanford hit for the team cycle with four doubles, a triple and a home run. Berman went 2-for-4 with an RBI, a double and a run scored for the visitors and Tyler Meditz posted a 2-for-3 evening with a walk. All nine of Stanford's starters reached base safely — Brodey and Bryce Carter each had three hits and four Cardinal batters drove in two runs.
Santa Clara returns to Schott Stadium for its final homestand of the 2016 season against Portland next weekend. The Broncos and Pilots meet for Friday's series opener at 6 p.m.
GAME NOTES: First pitch was at 5:35 p.m. … time of the game was 2:47 … attendance was 1,004.
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