April 26, 2005
STANFORD, Calif. - A three-run first inning gave the Santa Clara baseball team an early lead and it held on to post a 7-5 upset over 18th-ranked Stanford in Stanford, Calif. on Tuesday night. The win marks the Bronco's first win over a ranked team since beating Washington on February 20. SCU is now 19-22 on the season as the Cardinal falls to 24-15.
Santa Clara chased Stanford starter Erik Davis in the first inning as the Broncos scored three runs to take an early 3-0 lead. After a leadoff walk was issued to Kevin Drever, Shawn Epidendio singled to the left side of the infield and Drever advanced to third on a throwing error. A ground out from Jason Matteucci scored Drever and advanced Epidendio. Michael Thompson followed with an RBI single before Dustin Realini knocked in Thompson with a double down the left field line.
Anthony Rea and Dylan Hickey kept the Cardinal off the scoreboard until the bottom of the fourth inning, but not before the Broncos added two more runs in the top of the fourth. Ryan Conan drove in the first Bronco run of the inning with his second of three hits on the night. Drever would drive in the next run with a sacrifice fly to center field to score Carl Bacon, who reached base on a fielding error.
Stanford scored two in the bottom of the fourth frame to cut the SCU lead to 5-2. However, Santa Clara added another run in the top of the fifth to take a 6-2 lead. Another sacrifice fly, this time by Eric Newton, plated Matteucci, who had reached on a single to lead off the inning. He moved to second on a single by Realini and stole third base during Newton's at-bat.
After the Cardinal scored a run in each of the fifth and seventh innings, Santa Clara added its seventh run of the contest in the top of the eighth to seal the win. Newton would score the run with his fourth home run of the season.
Stanford added a run in the bottom of the eighth, but it would not be enough to overtake the Broncos. Patrick Overholt recorded four strikeouts over the last three innings to earn his second save of the season.
Conan led SCU as posted three hits in the game. Newton paced the Broncos with two RBI, while Epidendio, Thompson and Realini all joined him with two hits in the contest.
Santa Clara will end its seven-game road swing on Friday night when it returns home on Friday night for a 6 p.m. game against Gonzaga. The game will be the last Bronco baseball game in Buck Shaw Stadium as the Broncos open Stephen Schott Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
