Feb. 11, 2007
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Once again in its weekend series against San Diego State, the Santa Clara baseball team dug itself an early hole from which it could not escape. Three early runs from the Aztecs proved to be enough Sunday afternoon as the Broncos suffered a series sweep at the hands of their opponents with a 6-2 setback at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
SCU (5-5) will return to action Friday afternoon to start a three-game series against the UC Davis Aggies. Friday's 2 p.m. Sunday's 1 p.m. contests will be held in Davis, while the teams will face off at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, at Stephen Schott Stadium.
Ryan Conan made his return to the starting lineup Sunday afternoon and delivered with a 2-for-4 effort in which he hit his first home run of the season, a two-run shot that accounted for SCU's runs on the afternoon. Carl Bacon went 1-for-4 and scored the second Bronco run, while five Broncos each had one hit as well.
The Aztecs went ahead right away in the first, as Nick Romero's two-out single plated Troy Hanzawa with the game's first run. SDSU tacked two more on the board in the following inning, as Garett Green was hit by a pitch and Cameron Johnson singled to right to start the second, and were sacrificed to the next bag. Both then scored on Mike Willeford's single to left, one of his three hits on the day off of Bronco starter Justin Kuehn, who lasted only three and a third innings, giving up four runs and five hits in suffering his first loss of the season.
Santa Clara got two back in the fourth, as Bacon led the inning off with a single, and two batters later, Conan's blast to left-center pulled SCU to within one at 3-2. But the Aztecs got the lead back to two in their next time up, as Brandon Decker scored an unearned run as Bacon's throw to third on a double steal was off the mark, allowing Decker to cross the plate with SDSU's fourth run.
SDSU got another unearned run in the sixth and a Johnson RBI single in the seventh provided the last of the game's scoring.
Lance Sewell earned the win for the Aztecs after allowing only two runs in five innings. Three Aztec relievers combined to limit the Broncos to only two baserunners over the final four innings.
