Posted: Mar 04, 2019
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara baseball stays on the road to play its first midweek game of the season against UC Davis on Tuesday at 2:30 p.m. The Broncos are coming off a four-game weekend series at Cal State Bakersfield where it won the first game before dropping the next three.
Santa Clara (3-8) at UC Davis (6-5)
Game #12
Davis, Calif. | Dobbins Stadium
All-Time Series: Santa Clara leads 41-31-1. The teams first played in 1924 and last played in 2016.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Tuesday, March 5 • 2:30 p.m. PT
SCU RHP Luke Tillmann vs UC Davis LHP Nathan Lemos
LAST WEEKEND
Santa Clara played its first road games of the season at Cal State Bakersfield last weekend where it won the series opener before dropping the remaining three. On Friday, the Broncos opened the series with a 3-1 win behind starter Keegan McCarville who threw five scoreless innings to pick up his second win of the season. The Roadrunners won Saturday's doubleheader, 3-1 and 8-4, before closing out the series with a 4-2 win on Sunday.
For the series, freshman Matt Jew collected a hit in each game including his third home run of the season and batted .308. Jake MacNichols hit two round trippers in three games. He has now hit a home run in four of the last five games.
ABOUT UC DAVIS
The Aggies are coming off a 18-35 record in 2018 including 9-15 in Big West play to finish in eighth place under eighth year head coach Matt Vaughn.
UC Davis is 6-5 this season winning three of the four in last weekend's series against Utah Valley at home where they are 6-2 this season. One of those losses came in its only midweek game thus far, against Nevada on Feb. 19.
The Aggies are hitting .287 this season including six over .300. Collectively the team has a .390 on-base percentage and have swiped 24 bases in 32 attempts.
On the mound, they have a 5.52 ERA with an opponent batting average of .304.
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FIRST YEAR IMPROVEMENT UNDER HEAD COACH RUSTY FILTER
Head coach Rusty Filter enters his second year with the Broncos, coming off a 26-26 season. In his first season in 2018, the Broncos saw signifcant improvements in various categories from the previous season:
•Overall wins from 13 to 26
•Average home attendance from 181 to 531
•Runs scored from 238 to 277
•Bases on balls from 155 to 190
•On-base percentage from .330 to .348
•Team ERA from 6.39 to 4.86
•Hits/extra-base hits allowed from 525/164 to 497/134
•Strikeouts from 373 to 401
•Fielding percentage from .958 to .968
STEPHEN SCHOTT STADIUM IMPROVEMENTS
Since the end of last season, Stephen Schott Stadium, the home of the Broncos, underwent the following field improvements:
•Resurfaced all the infield (dirt, grass, home plate).
•New astro turf with foul lines in the foul territory.
•New bullpens on both sides.
•New logo behind home plate.
2019 SCHEDULE QUICK HITS
•Prior to the season, the Broncos were scheduled to play 29 of its 53 regular-season games at Stephen Schott Stadium where they were 15-12 at home last season.
•Opening day weekend's rain forced one game to be moved from San José State to Schott Stadium so the Broncos are now scheduled to play 30 games at home.
•The Feb. 15 game at San José State was postponed with no make up date scheduled.
•Santa Clara plays three Pac-12 conference teams - vs Washington State (Feb. 21-24), vs. Washington (April 15) and vs. Stanford (April 30) plus at Stanford on May 7.
•Games against three 2018 NCAA Tournament qualifiers are on the docket - vs. Washington (April 15), vs Gonzaga (April 18-20) and vs Stanford (April 30) and at at Sanford (May 7) with the Huskies advancing to the College World Series.
•Longest homestead is nine games from April 9-23.
•Longest stretch of road game is six games from March 15-24.
NEW LOOK ROSTER
•Twenty-one newcomers dot the Santa Clara roster this season including 14 freshmen and seven transfers (excluding two player with roster exemptions who will not play in 2019 due to injuries - Matt Erickson and Alec Olmsted).
•The newcomers include 11 pitchers (eight right-handed and three left-handed), one catcher, six infielders and three outfielders.
NEWCOMERS IN ACTION
•Eighteen newcomers made their Bronco debuts on opening weekend along with RHP Matthew McGarry who sat out last season after transferring from Vanderbilt.
•At least four newcomers have been in the starting lineup in each of the 11 games this season.
•Freshmen Dawson Brigman and Matt Jew have started in the each of the first 11 games.
•Brigman is the only player who has started in the same position this season (all at shortstop).
•Jew went 6-for-12 in the San José State series including belting a solo home run in each game of the opening day doubleheader. Jew safely reached base on nine of 15 plate appearances.
•Brigman (vs. SJSU, Feb. 17), Jew (vs. SJSU, Feb. 17) and fellow freshman Blake Faddoul (vs. Washington State, Feb. 24) each have gone yard.
•Junior college transfers Brendan Ecklebarger (Feb. 22) and Keegan McCarville (Feb. 23) picked up their first career wins against Washington State.
•Junior college transfer Ethan Heinrich earned his first career save against Washington State (Feb. 23).
•Twin brothers Locke Bernhardt and Holden Bernhardt made their Bronco debuts in, appropriately, a twin bill against San José State on opening day (Feb. 16).
HOME RUNS
•The Broncos have hit 11 home runs collectively, all solo shots, by five different players (four by MacNichols, three by Jew, two by Jason Dicochea plus one each by Brigman and Faddoul). The pitching staff hasgiven up just on e home run through the first 11 games.
STREAKS
•Freshman Blake Faddoul has safely reached base in the six consecutive games.
•Freshman Matt Jew has hit safely in four straight games.
•Junior Jake MacNichols hit a home run in three consecutive games (Feb. 23 - March 1) and has hit one in four of the last five games.
BRONO MLB SELECTIONS UNDER RUSTY FILTER
•Four players from last season's squad was selected in the 2018 Major League Baseball First-Year Players Draft:
•RHP Steven Wilson (8th round by the San Diego Padres)
•INF Jake Brodt (9th round by the Toronto Blue Jays)
•INF John Cresto (28th round by the Colorado Rockies)
•RHP Penn Murfee (33rd round by the Seattle Mariners)
•Newcomer Keegan McCarville, a right-handed pitcher, was selected in the 24th round by the Tampa Bay Rays but chose to attend Santa Clara.
USA BASEBALL COACHING ASSIGNMENT
•This past summer, Filter served as the pitching coach for the inaugural USA Baseball 2018 16U National Team Development Program (NTDP) Stars team. He was previously the pitching coach for USA Baseball's 18U National Team in 2017 as well as coaching at the 2015 and 2016 Tournament of Stars.
MARK MARQUESS AT SANTA CLARA
•One of the premier coaches in college baseball history, member of American Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame, and gold-medal winning Olympic baseball coach, Mark Marquess was hired as Special Assistant to Santa Clara Director of Athletics, Renee Baumgartner, last fall. In this new role, Marquess, who served as Stanford head baseball coach for 41 years and is the fourth winningest coach in Division I history, is a mentor for all Santa Clara coaches and staff, serving on campus committees, supporting development, and working on special projects.