Feb. 26, 2001
By Keith Candau, SID Student Assistant
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University baseball team was defeated by South-Bay rival Stanford 6-1 in the third game of a four-game series between the two schools. With the loss the Broncos fall to 2-11 on the season while the Cardinal improved to 12-4.
Sophomore southpaw Joe Diefenderfer (1-2) started for Santa Clara. He pitched five innings only allowing four runs off nine hits. Diefenderfer also batted for the Broncos going 2-for-4 on the night. The winning pitcher for the Cardinal was Tim Cunningham (4-0) who only gave up one run in six innings, striking out six Broncos. Ryan McCally recorded his first save this season, shutting out Santa Clara in three innings.
The Broncos' only run came in the bottom of the fourth when senior catcher Norm Hayes singled to center field scoring Matt Queen who reached on a leadoff single. Hayes was 2-for-4 on the evening with one RBI. Freshmen pitcher Kellan McConnell came on in relief in the sixth inning. He went three innings only allowing one Cardinal run. It took the combined efforts of Senior Jim DeMartini and Freshman Patrick McBride to finish off the Cardinal in the ninth inning.
Three Stanford players hit home runs in the game and six different players recorded RBI's for the Cardinal. Chris O'Riordan started the game with a leadoff homerun. That is his third homer of the year. Jason VanMeetren hit his fourth homerun of the year in the fifth inning. The cleanup hitter, Jason Cooper, hit his team-leading sixth homerun in the ninth inning. Cooper went 3-for-5 on the night leading the Cardinal in batting.
The Broncos are next in action when they battle the Hornets of Sacramento State on Tuesday, February 27, at Buck Shaw Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. The Broncos finish their four-game series with Stanford on May 1 at the Sunken Diamond.
