Posted: May 06, 2019
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara baseball begins a stretch of four in a row on the road on Tuesday when its faces Stanford in the final midweek game of the regular season. First pitch is at 6:05 p.m. The Broncos returns to West Coast Conference play on Friday when it opens a three-game series with Saint Mary's.
Stanford won the frontend of the home-and-home series last Tuesday at Stephen Schott Stadium.
In their last meeting, Kyle Stowers and Brandon Wulff each hit two-run homers and Alex Williams yielded just two hits over seven innings to lead second-ranked Stanford to a 7-1 victory over Santa Clara to hand the Broncos its first loss on a Tuesday this season.
McCarthy supplied the lone run for the Broncos with a solo homer in the fifth inning that carried over the batter's eye. The Bronco redshirt junior had two of Santa Clara's three hits, though Stanford was only able to muster six of its own.
Santa Clara starter Brandon Buckley (1-1), who surrendered just one run in his two innings of work, suffered the loss as the Broncos utilized six relievers thereafter.
Santa Clara (11-34) at Stanford (34-8)
Games #46
Stanford, Calif. | Klein Field at Sunken Diamond
All-Time Series: Stanford leads the series 198-165-7 dating back to 1892.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Tuesday, May 7 • 6:05 p.m. PT
Santa Clara TBA vs. Stanford TBA
LAST TIME
San Diego took two out of three from the Broncos over the weekend in a WCC series. For the fourth time in the last five conference series, the Broncos split the first two games but could not close out the rubber match to earn a series win.
On Friday, San Diego, which overcame an early deficit to claim a 14-6 series-opening win. Anthony Donatella pitched eight-plus innings of scoreless relief and Stephen Dubb and Jeff Houghtby each had three hits and two RBIs to pace the offense for the Toreros.
Santa Clara evened the series on Saturday with a solid effort from four members of the pitching staff, which scattered six hits to help the Broncos claim an efficient 5-2 win. Keegan McCarville (4-7) tossed 2 1/3 innings of relief to earn the win and Eric Lex pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save of the season.
In the series finale on Sunday, San Diego erased a deficit with a six-run outburst in the sixth inning and then held off a late rally from the Broncos to earn an 8-6 victory. The Broncos load the bases in the bottom of the eighth and ninth but were unable to push across the tying runs.
For the series, Tony Boetto collected five hits to go along with a .538 OBP and Ryan McCarthy had four hits, three of which went for extra-bases, and four RBIs.
ABOUT STANFORD
Second-ranked Stanford are led head coach David Esquer who is in his second year at the helm after spending 18 years as the head coach at Cal. Esquer as a career record of 605-487-2 including a 80-20 record at Stanford entering Tuesday's game.
The Cardinal are hitting .276 led by Will Matthiessen (.348/.428/.587) and Andrew Daschbach (.311/.403/.574). Brandon Wulff has gone yard a team-high 16 times among 11 hitters who have combined to homer 58 times on the season. Stanford has stolen base 46 times while allowing just 18.
On the mound, Stanford has a 3.10 ERA, striking out 362 opposing hitters while walking 123 in 377 2/3 innings. Closer Jack Little has eight saves to his credit with a 2.48 ERA and struck out 38 in 29 innings. Defensively, the Cardinal have committed 36 errors in 42 games.
STANFORD CONNECTION
•Santa Clara head coach Rusty Filter was an associate head coach at Stanford from 2010 to 2017 under the legendary Mark Marquess.
•Bronco assistant coach Jon Karcich coached alongside Filter at Stanford from 2015 – 17 serving as an assistant coach and recruiting coordinator under Marquess.
•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.