Posted: May 13, 2019
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara baseball concludes its 2019 season when it hosts West Coast Conference leader BYU for a three game series beginning Thursday at Stephen Schott Stadium. The first pitch of the series is set for 6 p.m., followed by another 6 p.m. start on Friday before wrapping up on Saturday at 1 p.m.
Prior to Saturday's game, the Diamond Brunch Fundraiser will take place at the Leavey Center on the Santa Clara University campus.
The 10 a.m. brunch is a chance for the current team including head coach Rusty Filter and his staff, families, friends, supporters and the like to enjoy the time together while also serving as the main fundraiser for the baseball program with special guest speaker Jerry Howarth ('68). Howarth was the radio play-by-play voice of the Toronto Blue Jays from 1981 to 2017.
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Prior to Saturday first pitch at Schott Stadium, five seniors and two student managers will be honored in a pre-game ceremony. Bronco players Freddie Erlandson, Travis Howard Ryan McCarthy, Matt McGarry and Austin Reyes along with managers JC Montemayor and Jon Schafer will be recognized.
BYU (33-14, 17-7 WCC) at Santa Clara (11-38, 4-20 WCC)
Games #50-52
Santa Clara, Calif. | Stephen Schott Stadium
All-Time Series: BYU leads the series 19-9 dating back to 1968.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Thursday, May 16 • 6 p.m. PT
BYU TBA vs. Santa Clara TBA
Friday, May 17 • 6 p.m. PT
BYU TBA vs. Santa Clara TBA
Saturday, May 18 • 1 p.m. PT
BYU TBA vs. Santa Clara TBA
LAST TIME
Broncos slugger Jake MacNichols homered three times in the series but Santa Clara lost all three games on the road to Saint Mary's over the weekend
On Friday, MacNichols and Andre Nnebe supplied the offense for Santa Clara with solo home runs but a six-run fifth inning and solid pitching by starter Tyler Thornton, who allowed one run over seven frames, gave the Gaels a series opening win, 9-2.
The Gaels received another strong pitching effort on Saturday, this time by Ken Waldichuk who tossed 7 1/3 innings allowing one run with 11 strikeouts to beat SCU, 8-1. Bronco starter Holden Bernhardt threw a career-high tying five innings allowing three runs (two earned runs) in the losing effort.
In the series finale on Sunday, MacNichols delivered two 2-run homers but it was not enough as Saint Mary's scored all nine of its runs in the first four frames and starter Carlos Lomeli allowed two runs in six innings to help the Gaels to a 9-4 win.
ABOUT BYU
BYU is led by head coach Mike Littlewood who is in his sevenh year at the helm with a record of 212-157 entering the weekend series.
The Cougars are 17-7 in WCC play this season sitting atop the conference standings with solid hitting and pitching. They are one game ahead of Gonzaga and two games ahead of Saint Mary's in the standings.
BYU travel to Utah for a midweek game before playing the Broncos as they are 12-8 on the road this season.
Offensively, the Cougars are second in the league in runs scored averaging over seven runs a game thanks to a .287 batting average and .387 on-base percentage. A disciplined team, BYU draws on average, 4.5 bases on balls per game.
The Cougars have five hitters batting over .318 led by Jackson Cluff's .346 average helping him drive in a team-high 56 runs. Brock Hale leads the team in home runs with 10 while batting .344.
On the base paths, BYU steals at a clip of 82.7% on 52 attempts led by Cluff who is a perfect 12-for-12 on the season.
The pitching staffs boasts the second best ERA in conference at 3.67. Easton Walker, Justin Sterner, Jordon Wood and Jarod Lessar have combined to start in 40 of the 47 games going 22-8. Sterner has recorded the most wins with an 8-3 record, while Walker has the lowest ERA at 1.76.
Drew Zimmerman leads the team with four saves, followed by Reid McLaughlin with three.
Defensively, the Cougars have committed 48 errors in 47 games.
MACNICHOLS CLIMBING UP THE HOME RUN LIST
The three home runs by MacNichols over the weekend helped him climb into a sixth place tie with Jake Brodt (2015-18) on the Broncos single-season home run list with 15. Gene Delyon (1974) is atop the list with 19 homers followed by Scott Dierks (2003) with 18 and a three-way tie between Ernie Fazio (1962), Troy Buckley (1988) and Paul Chiaffredo (1997) for third place with 16.
MacNichols also has 29 career round trippers to put him fifth all-time on the Santa Clara career home run list. Kevin Dunton (1982-85) is atop the career list with 38, followed by Buckley (1987-89) with 35 and Delyon (1971-74) and Ray Williamson (1983-86) are tied for third with 30 each.
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TICKETS
Single-game tickets priced at $10 are available. Click here to purchase online or contact the ticket office in Leavey Center weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. at (408) 554-4660 or BroncoTickets@scu.edu. Group discounts are also available through our ticket office sales and service consultants. Gates to Stephen Schott Stadium, as well as its ticket booth, are open one hour prior to the start of the game.
PARKING
Parking is available in the Guadalupe lot, adjacent to 455 El Camino Real. The Guadalupe lot is reserved beginning 60 minutes before game time through the end of the event for free parking. Baseball parking is no longer allowed in the lot behind Schott Stadium's left field wall. Overflow parking is available in the Leavey Center lot. Spectators that plan to arrive more than an hour prior to game time on weekdays are encouraged to purchase a parking permit for the Leavey lot. All SCU lot parking is free on weekends. ADA parking is available in the lot directly in front of the main gates; there is no general public parking in this lot. Follow signs for parking instructions. Click here for a campus parking map.
