March 17, 2001
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University baseball team came back from a five run deficit to defeat Loyola Marymount by a score of 7-5. This marks the fourth straight WCC series the Broncos have won dating back to last season. Santa Clara remains unbeaten in the conference with a 5-0 record and is 8-15 overall. LMU's record falls to 12-14 and 1-4 in the WCC. Santa Clara has won its last six games.
"We have a very resilient team," said Head Coach Mike Cummins. "We seem to be able to keep finding ways to win. It isn't always pretty, but the end result is really all that matters. We need to come out tomorrow and give another great effort. It's nice to be 5-0 now, but we must realize what has gotten us to this point and that is hard work and an emphasis on limiting our errors.
For the second straight game the Lions scored first putting four runs on the board in the top of the second inning off of the Bronco starting pitcher John Redmond. To open the second, LMU hit three consecutive singles followed by a RBI double by Joshua Whitesell. LMU added its final run in the third inning after back-to-back doubles by Kris Zacuto and C.J. Wilson. Those would be the only runs allowed by the Broncos.
Redmond finished the day giving up five runs in five innings pitched. Senior Jim DeMartini (1-0) earned the victory for the Broncos after pitching three and one third shutout innings. Freshmen Anthony Rea recorded his team leading fourth save of the year as he finished off the Lions in the bottom of the ninth.
It took the Broncos four full innings to put a run on the board off of the Lions' pitcher Wilson. However, in the fifth inning the first six Broncos reached base to decrease the LMU lead to 5-4. The inning was highlighted by a RBI single by Matt Queen with the bases loaded. Clint Cleland and Norm Hayes also recorded hits for Santa Clara in the fifth.
The Broncos completed their comeback in the bottom of the seventh inning with five batters recording hits. Queen and Pat Peavey hit back-to-back singles followed by a sacrifice bunt by John Hilvert. The following batter, Joey Gomes, singled in Peavey. This was followed by a pinch-hit RBI double by sophomore Alex Anderson. Justin Abreu made a relief appearance for LMU. He gave up no runs and two hits in one and a third innings.
The Broncos were led offensively by Headley who went 3-for-5 with a RBI, Peavey who went 2-for-3 with a RBI. Gomes added another RBI for Santa Clara and hit the team's first triple of the year. For the Lions, Wilson batted 2-for-3 with a RBI to help his cause.
Santa Clara completes the three-game series with LMU on Sunday, March 18. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m.
