Posted: Apr 12, 2018
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – This weekend's series against Pepperdine marks the midway point of the West Coast Conference season for Santa Clara baseball. The Broncos have played in four conference series thus far, going 4-8. Including this weekend, the Broncos will have five more conference series left spanning 15 games.
Santa Clara (15-15, 4-8 WCC) currently sits in eighth place in the conference standings, two games behind in the loss column to four schools including Pepperdine (14-17, 6-6 WCC).
This Week in Bronco Baseball
•Santa Clara (15-15, 4-8 WCC) hosts four games at Schott Stadium this week starting with a midweek game against cross town rival San José State (12-19) that the Broncos lost 9-3. SJSU scored a run in each of the first three innings to jump to a 3-0 lead and never looked back. Jake Brodt had a pair of solo homers and has now hit a WCC leading 10 homers on the year. Santa Clara played its first errorless game since March 24 vs Saint Mary's.
•The Broncos host Pepperdine (14-17, 6-6 WCC) in a weekend series. The Waves are 4-8 on the road this season.
•On the year, the Broncos are 11-9 at home and 4-6 on the road.
Last Week in Bronco Baseball - Late Inning Struggles
•Santa Clara lost all four games last week, playing No.2 Stanford at home on April 3 and traveling to BYU to play the Cougars on Thursday and Friday.
Much of the action took place in the eighth inning in last week's games.
•Stanford jumped on Santa Clara early, scoring seven runs in the first inning en route to a 16-8 victory in a non-conference game last Tuesday.
•The three-game series at BYU was played over two days on Thursday and Friday with a doubleheader on Friday due to inclement weather on Saturday.
•BYU won the first two games of the series in walkoff fashion, scoring the game winner on a Bronco error in the bottom of the ninth in the series opener to win, 2-1.
•In game one of the doubheader on Friday, BYU's Daniel Schneemann hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to beat the Broncos, 6-4.
•In the series finale, the Cougars scored five runs in the last two innings to win, 6-5.
Series Information
Game #31 - 33 vs Pepperdine
Santa Clara, Calif. | Stephen Schott Stadium
All-Time Series: Santa Clara trails 60-103-2. The teams first played in 1960 and last played in 2017
Probable Starters
Friday, April 13 • 6 p.m. PT
SCU RHP Steven Wilson (3-0, 2.54 ERA) vs. Pepperdine RHP Cooper Chandler (2-2, 4.81 ERA)
Saturday, April 14 • 1 p.m. PT
SCU RHP Freddie Erlandson (3-1, 3.31 ERA) vs. Pepperdine RHP Jonathan Pendergast (2-4, 3.67 ERA)
Sunday, April 15 • Noon PT
SCU TBA vs. Pepperdine TBA
GAMEDAY INFORMATION |
|
| Tickets | |
| Live Stream / Video |
Tune in 10 minutes before the first pitch to listen to Jake MacNichols in the pregame interview on Friday, Freddie Erlandson on Saturday and Anthony Geremia on Sunday. |
| Live Stats | |
| Promotions | |
| Santa Clara | |
| Opposing Team | |
ABOUT SANTA CLARA
NEW FOR 2018 - Pre & Postgame Interviews At Home Contests
•Listen to pregame interviews of Bronco coaches and players before every home game this year on TheW.tv live stream with Bronco play-by-play announcer David Gentile. Interviewees are announced on Bronco Baseball social media platforms (see footer) and on the series preview on SantaClaraBroncos.com Tune in approximately 10 minutes prior to the first pitch.
•After each home win, postgame player interviews are streamed also on TheW.tv with Gentile.
Who's Hot
•While the Broncos have struggled recently, losing six in a row and 10 of its last 11 games, Jason Dicochea has hit .391 (18-for-46) with six doubles and five multi-hit games in that span.
•In the last 10 games, Grant Meylan is hitting .346 (9-for-26) with a .452 OBP.
•In the last 5 games, Eric Lex has appeared in 3 of them pitching 5 2/3 innings without allowing an earned run and striking out six.
Marked Improvement
•Thirty games into the 52 game season, the Broncos have improved by two games in the overall win column and three games in the home win column thus far.
Be one of the first 200 fans at Stephen Schott Stadium this Saturday in order to receive a Claradise tank top. Gates open at noon. #StampedeTogether #WelcometoClaradise pic.twitter.com/vYXomf9jHz
— Santa Clara Baseball (@SCU_Baseball) April 12, 2018
Schedule
•At this time there is no make-up game scheduled for the UC Davis game which was postponed back on March 13.
•This weekend's series against Pepperdine will be the 31st - 33rd game of the season. Of the 22 remaining games, including the weekend series, seven will be played at home (three-game series vs Pepperdine from April 13-15; midweek game vs Cal Poly on April 24; and home finale vs Loyola Marymount from May 11-13).
Solid Start
•Santa Clara got off to a 13-5 start, its best start since the 2012 season when it went 13-3.
•The Broncos won four consecutive series (2-1 series win over Wake Forest Feb.23-25; 3-0 sweep over Utah March 2-4; 3-1 series win over Sacramento State March 8-11; and 2-1 series win over San Diego March 16-18) before losing the last series against Saint Mary's (March 23-25).
•The Broncos are 4-0 in extra inning games this season with three of them coming off in walk-off fashion (Feb. 24 vs Wake Forest in 14 innings; March 4 vs Utah in 12 innings; March 8 vs Sacramento State in 10 innings, March 10 at Sacramento State in 10 innings).
Streaks
•Joe Becht has reached base safely in all 30 games this season (Got a hit in 22 games, drew a walk in 7 games he did not get a hit in and was hit by a pitch in the other game he did not get a hit or walk).
•Grant Meylan has reached base safely in 20 consecutive games.
•Evan Haberle had his team-high 11 game hit streak come to an end against Stanford (April 3).
•Santa Clara had won six consecutive one-run games before losing to Saint Mary's, 6-5, on March 24. The Broncos are now 7-4 in one-run games, losing a pair at BYU last weekend.
•John Cresto hit a home run in four consecutive games, all solo shots, from Feb. 23 - 27. He hit one in each game of the Wake Forest series as well as in the midweek game against Nevada.
•Closer Eric Lex recorded a save in three consecutive games from Feb. 27 - March 4.
•Broncos have lost six straight games, the longest such streak this season.
Captains
•Sixth-year senior right-handed pitcher Steven Wilson and senior first baseman Jake Brodt were named captains for the 2018 Santa Clara squad.
Preseason Accolades
•Senior first baseman Jake Brodt and junior third baseman John Cresto were named preseason All-West Coast Conference. Last season, Brodt was named first team All-WCC with Cresto being named honorable mention All-WCC.
Brodt's Two Grand Slams In One Inning
•Brodt hit two grand slams in the seventh inning on Feb. 17 against Boston College, becoming just the seventh Division I player to accomplish the feat since the NCAA began keeping records in 1957. He is the first to do so since 2000 when T.J. Soto of Louisiana Tech did it against Western
Kentucky.
•Brodt's first grand slam came with the Broncos trailing 9-7 in the seventh inning and put them up for good. His second grand slam came with the Broncos up 16-9. In the first inning, Brodt hit a sacrifice fly for the first RBI of the game and in the sixth, Brodt hit a solo home run to finish the game 3-for-5 with three home runs and 10 RBIs.
•The Huntington Beach, California native's two grand slams in an inning was featured on ESPN's SportsCenter and was named NCBWA National Hitter of the Week and Rawlings West Coast Conference Player of the Week.
In Season Accolades
•Jake Brodt has twice been named the WCC Player of the Week this season on Feb. 19 after his two grand slam in an inning game and a month later on March 19 after going 5-for-14 with three doubles, two home runs and drove in seven runs against San Diego while playing first and third base.
Hit By Pitch
•On Feb. 17, Boston College hit 10 Bronco players, tying an NCAA Division I record along with Baylor vs. TCU, March 6, 2012; Saint Joseph's vs. Fordham, April 5, 2009; Washington vs. Rice, May 22, 1998.
•Seven Broncos were hit in an inning (in the seventh) of the Feb. 17 game, breaking the NCAA Division I record (Previous record: 6—Hawaii vs. Hawaii Hilo, Feb. 8, 1998 (eighth inn.)
•Santa Clara is 11th in the nation (out of 297) in being hit by a pitch with 57. Florida A&M is first with 73.