April 12, 2005
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara baseball team returned to its winning ways on Tuesday night with a 9-3 win over San Francisco State in the second to last baseball game at Buck Shaw Stadium. The Broncos improve to 15-19 on the season with the victory. The Gators fall to 16-26 after a win over Menlo College earlier in the day.
In the first meeting between the schools since 1996, the Gators took an early 1-0 lead with a run in the first inning. However, it wouldn't take the Broncos long to take the lead as they scored three runs in the bottom of the second frame.
A lead-off single from Eric Newton and a walk to Ryan Chiarelli would give SCU two runners on base with no outs. A ground out advanced both runners before Kevin Drever brought Newton across home plat with another ground ball out. After another walk, Kris Watts drove in his first run of the night with a single to right field. With Jason Matteucci on third base and Watts on first, the Broncos executed a successful double steal to score their third run of the inning.
San Francisco State added another run in the top of the fourth, but SCU responded with four runs in the bottom of the fifth. Five straight hits by the Broncos started the frame. The second of the inning was a two-run home run off the bat of Watts for his second round tripper of the year. Michael Thompson followed with his first of two doubles of the contest and came around to score on a single from Dustin Realini. A double by Shawn Epidendio moved the runner to third base, but a fielding error by the Gator center fielder would allow Realini to come around to score.
In the bottom of the sixth, two more Broncos crossed the plate for the eighth and ninth runs of the evening. Drever started the frame with a single and went to second base on a balk. One of three Matteucci singles brought Drever in before Matteucci scored himself on an RBI double by Thompson.
The Gators added their third run in the top of the seventh, but it wouldn't be enough to overcome the Bronco lead as SCU posted the 9-3 victory.
Watts paced the Broncos with three RBI after going 2-for-3 at the plate. Matteucci was 3-for-4 with three runs scored, while Drever and Thompson both recorded multiple hit performances.
Chris Stansbury picked up the win to improve to 2-0 this season. He allowed three hits in three innings. Dylan Hickey had a strong performance in relief, hurling three hitless innings with two strikeouts.
The Broncos will begin a seven-game road swing on Friday when they travel to Los Angeles for a three-game WCC series at Loyola Marymount. Friday's first pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.
