Posted: Apr 23, 2018
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara baseball hosts Cal Poly on Tuesday night in the final midweek home game of the season before playing eight consecutive road games starting with a weekend series against WCC co-leader San Francisco on Friday. The match up against Cal Poly is the front end of a home-and-home series with the Mustangs as the Broncos travel to San Luis Obispo, California on May 1.
The Mustangs (19-19, 6-6 Big West) are currently fourth in the Big West standings, two games behind league leader UC Irvine. While they are 13-5 at home, Cal Poly is only 3-10 on the road and 3-4 at neutral sites. The Broncos are 11-12 at home on the season.
As a team, Cal Poly is batting .294 with four hitters over .300 including Tate Samuelson (.309) and Kyle Marinconz (.300) who share the team lead in home runs with four and are top two in RBIs with 26 and 22, respectively.
Cal Poly has a 4.93 team ERA with five pitchers starting more than five games and posting at least a save.
Santa Clara is the fourth WCC opponent the Mustangs will face this season, having split a two game series with Gonzaga and splitting a four game series with Pacific. It played one game at Pepperdine, losing 11-9.
Last Week in Bronco Baseball
•Santa Clara played a Pac-12 slate on the road, winning 6-4 at Cal in the midweek game and getting swept at Washington State in the weekend series.
•Against Cal, the Broncos jumped to a 4-0 lead after two innings on home runs by John Cresto and Jake MacNichols. Santa Clara bullpen held the powerful Bears lineup, who came into the game batting .311, to just one run in the final six innings to hold onto a 6-4 win.
•The Broncos went winless in a three game series with Washington State including getting no-hit on Sunday. Four Cougar pitchers combined for the no-hitter.
Game Information vs Cal Poly
Game #38
Santa Clara, Calif. | Stephen Schott Stadium
All-Time Series: Santa Clara trails 42-44. The teams first played in 1956 and last played in 2017.
Probable Starters
Tuesday, April 24 • 6 p.m. PT
SCU TBA vs. Cal Poly TBA
GAMEDAY INFORMATION |
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| Tickets | |
| Live Stream / Video |
Tune in 10 minutes before the first pitch to listen to Alex Barden in the pregame interview. |
| Live Stats | |
| Promotions | |
| Santa Clara | |
| Opposing Team |
Notes |
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 live streamed also on TheW.tv with Gentile.
Marked Improvement
•Thirty-seven games into the 52 game season, the Broncos have improved by three games in the overall win column and three games in the home win column thus far.
Schedule
•At this time there is no make-up game scheduled for the UC Davis game which was postponed back on March 13.
•The game against Cal Poly will be the 38th game of the season. Of the 15 remaining games, including Tuesday's game, only four games will be played at home (midweek game vs Cal Poly on April 24; and home finale vs Loyola Marymount from May 11-13) as the Broncos played a schedule front loaded with home games. After the Cal Poly game, the Broncos will play eight consecutive games on the road.
Solid Start
•Santa Clara got off to a 14-5 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 4-1 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). It won its first four extra-inning games before losing to BYU on game one of the double header on April 6.
Streaks
•Joe Becht's 36 consecutive games bases reached streak came to an end against Washington State on April 22. (Got a hit in 25 games, drew a walk in 10 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's 20 consecutive games bases reached streak came to an end against Pepperdine on April 13.
•Santa Clara had won six consecutive one-run games before losing to Saint Mary's, 6-5, on March 24. The Broncos are now 7-5 in one-run games, losing the last four.
•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.
•The Broncos had a season-high seven game win streak from Feb. 27 - March 10 and a nine game losing streak from March 31 - April 15.
Captains
•Sixth-year senior right-handed pitcher Steven Wilson and senior first baseman Jake Brodt were named captains for the 2018 Santa Clara squad.
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 18th in the nation (out of 297) in being hit by a pitch with 63. Florida A&M is first with 87.
•Niko Holm leads the team in HBP with nine and three Broncos - Jason Dicochea, Grant Meylan, and Joe Becht - are second on the team in HBPs with eight each.
Coaching Staff
•Head coach Rusty Filter is in his first season with Santa Clara. Filter picked up his first career head coaching win on Feb. 17 against Boston College.
oEach member of his coaching staff is in their first season with Santa Clara and was selected in the MLB draft.
oFilter himself was selected in the 35th round of the 1990 MLB draft by the Toronto Blue Jays as a pitcher.
oFilter will make the mound visits and signal pitching changes. Filter coached third for two games this season (vs Pepperdine on April 13 & 14)
•Assistant coach and recruiting coordinator Jon Karcich coached alongside Filter at Stanford from 2015 – 17.
oKarcich returns to his alma mater where he played for the Broncos from 2007 – 09 where he was a two-time All-West Coast Conference honoree.
oKarcich was selected in the seventh round of the 2009 MLB draft by the California Angels as an infielder.
oKarcich coaches the infielders and serves as the bench coach but will occasionally coach first.
•Assistant coach BK Santy, a former catcher at Washington, coaches the catchers and outfielders as well as serving as the third base coach.
oSanty was selected in the 30th round of the 2012 MLB draft by the Minnesota Twins as a catcher.
•Assistant coach Greg Gonzalez, a former pitcher at Fresno State, serves as the first base coach and an occasional bench coach.
oGonzalez was selected in the 15th round of the 2011 MLB draft by the San Diego Padres as a pitcher.
