STANFORD, Calif. – Santa Clara led 2-0 after five innings but ultimately fell 8-2 to the No. 18/20 Stanford Cardinal on Tuesday night. Quinn Brodey hit two solo home runs as the top three Cardinal batters combined to drive in six of the team's eight runs.
Santa Clara (8-31, 4-11 WCC) starting pitcher Alex Barden (0-2) threw 5.0 scoreless innings but allowed a three-run home run to Brodey in the sixth inning and wound up with the loss. His final line consisted of 5.2 innings pitched, allowing four hits, three earned runs with four walks and four strikeouts. Stanford (24-12, 8-7 Pac-12) reliever Brett Hanewich (2-1) threw 4.0 innings allowing two hits and one earned run while striking out four batters.
The Broncos took an early 1-0 lead thanks to freshman catcher Jake MacNichols' fifth home run of the season in the top of the third inning. His shot to left field was the first hit of the game for SCU.
The Broncos tacked on a second run in the top of the fifth inning as junior second baseman Evan Haberle scored on a wild pitch. He walked to leadoff the inning, advanced to second on a single, to third on a sacrifice bunt and then came around to score. Santa Clara went 0-for-7 at the plate with runners in scoring position on the night.
Stanford took a 3-2 lead on a three-run home run by Brodey in the bottom of the sixth inning. Brodey drove in the previous two batters who walked on full counts.
The Cardinal added to the lead in the bottom of the seventh inning. Alec Wilson led off the inning by reaching base via error and advancing to second base. He moved to third base on a sacrifice bunt and then scored on an RBI single by Matt Winaker. Winaker later came around to score on a sacrifice fly. Brodey then homered for the second time to put Stanford up 6-2.
Stanford scored two runs in the eighth inning to end the game's scoring.
Up Next: Santa Clara heads to Pepperdine for a three-game series that begins on Friday at 3 p.m. PT.
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