SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Mitchell White delivered the best outing of his collegiate career for Santa Clara baseball Saturday night. The San Jose native allowed only one run in his first complete game with the Broncos and struck out a career-high 15 batters in a 9-1 win over Portland at Schott Stadium.
The Broncos (22-26, 9-14 WCC) have won their first West Coast Conference series of the season and first series overall since opening weekend against Notre Dame. They defeated the Pilots (17-21, 3-20) 9-5 Friday night.
White (W, 3-6) threw 100 pitches and allowed only four hits and did not issue a walk in his 14th start of the year. He pitched six 1-2-3 innings and retired 10 straight batters over the last four frames. The right-hander struck out six consecutive Portland hitters from the final out of the seventh through the second out of the ninth.
"Words can only take away from an outing like that so I really have no comment. I'll let that performance speak for itself," Bronco head coach Dan O'Brien said of White's outing. "I will comment on the human though; as good as that outing was and as gifted as he is on the mound, his character qualities unquestionably stand the tallest."
White's complete game win is the first for the Broncos since Tommy Nance pitched a shutout in a 3-0 win at Stanford on May 14, 2013. He has struck out a WCC-high 116 batters this year.
Santa Clara took an early lead by scoring four runs in the second inning against Portland starter Davis Tominaga (L, 4-9). Austin Fisher put the home team on the board with a two-run single and two batters later, Kyle Cortopassi drove in a run with an RBI double. Tominaga allowed five runs (four earned) on nine hits in 5.0 innings.
Tyler Meditz went 3-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored while Fisher collected two hits and scored twice. He had a hand in all three of Santa Clara's runs during the sixth — the right fielder drove in two Broncos on a triple and scored on a wild pitch. Cortopassi went 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored. He got aboard safely in each of his first 10 trips to the plate in the series.
"It's amazing what happens when a player decides to just enjoy playing the game; he competes harder than anyone at the yard every night and has a blast doing it," O'Brien said of Cortopassi. "It's why he's having an amazing senior year. To see Kyle walk off the field tonight with the dirtiest uniform in the yard says everything you need to know about him as a ballplayer and a human. The kid is a flat out winner — always will be — and he defines Bronco baseball in every way."
The Broncos and Pilots wrap up the series Sunday afternoon at 1 p.m. Santa Clara's Jason Seever (6-2, 4.62 ERA) takes the mount against Portland's Kevin Baker (0-3, 5.95 ERA). Santa Clara will honor eight players as part of Senior Day: Ryan Budnick, Cortopassi, Peter Hendron, TC Florentine, Nick Medeiros, Jacob Steffens, Kert Woods and Steven Wilson.
GAME NOTES: First pitch was at 6:03 p.m. … time of the game was 2:53 … attendance was 383 … Santa Clara honored members of the Armed Forces and first responders as part of its Salute to Service game ... Bronco head coach Dan O'Brien was ejected in the second inning after a leadoff single by Portland's Cooper Hummel.
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