SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara baseball faces its fourth nationally ranked opponent of the season when it travels to Fort Worth, Texas to take on the No. 6 TCU Horned Frogs (USA Today Coaches Poll) for a break in West Coast Conference play this weekend. The Broncos are winners of five straight games against nonconference foes, including a 6-5 walkoff victory on an RBI single from Joe Becht against Stanford at Schott Stadium Tuesday night. Santa Clara has defeated all three ranked opponents it has faced this season: No. 1 Vanderbilt Feb. 14, No. 30 San Diego March 22 and No. 26 Nevada March 30.
The Broncos are the only team in the country to play a weekend series against preseason No. 1 Vanderbilt and preseason No. 2 TCU (Collegiate Baseball) in the 2015 season. They are 7-0 in games played in the state of Texas under head coach Dan O'Brien. In 2012, the Broncos defeated Texas State, Wichita State and UL-Lafayette to go 3-0 in the Bobcat Invitational in O'Brien's first three games as head coach. Last season, the Broncos won the Irish Classic with wins over Gonzaga and Incarnate Word, as well as two victories against Notre Dame — including the championship game.
Santa Clara was swept on the road last weekend at Pepperdine in a WCC series; all three games were decided by four runs or fewer. TCU lost only its second series of the season when it travelled to Manhattan, Kan. for a three-game set with the Kansas State Wildcats. The Horned Frogs fell 14-4 Friday and 6-2 Sunday to bookend a 9-0 victory Saturday. They also picked up a midweek victory, defeating UT Arlington on the road 7-1 last Tuesday on the strength of a four-run second inning against the Mavericks. TCU began the season with a 16-2 record and has been nationally ranked as the No. 1 team in college baseball this season.
LEADING OFF
Game 36: Friday, April 17, 2015 — 4:30 p.m. PDT
Game 37: Saturday, April 18, 2015 — 2 p.m. PDT
Game 38: Sunday, April 19, 2015 — 11 a.m. PDT
Venue: Lupton Family Stadium — Fort Worth, Texas
Video: www.gofrogs.com/collegesportslive
Live Stats: www.tcu.statbroadcast.com
Series Record: Have Not Met
STARTING PITCHERS (SCU - TCU)
Friday, April 17
RHP Reece Karalus (1-3, 2.96 ERA) - RHP Mitchell Traver (5-1, 2.14 ERA)
Saturday, April 18
RHP Eric Lex (2-3, 5.04 ERA) - RHP Preston Morrison (7-1, 1.99 ERA)
Sunday, April 19
LHP Evan Brisentine (2-2, 4.15 ERA) - LHP Alex Young (6-2, 1.51 ERA)
BRONCOS
Reece Karalus makes his 20th appearance and first start of the season Friday night. The junior entered Tuesday's ballgame in the top of ninth with no outs and runners on second and third against Stanford with the score 5-5, and retired three of the four batters he faced to prevent the Cardinal from pulling in front. He last started for the Broncos Feb. 18, 2014, and threw 2.2 innings while allowing three earned runs on three hits with two walks and four strikeouts in an 8-0 loss to the Mustangs at Schott Stadium. He went 0-9 with a 7.04 ERA in 19 appearances and 12 starts as a freshman in 2013.
This season, Karalus picked up five saves in an 11-game span March 22 against San Diego, March 24 at Grand Canyon, March 29 against Pacific, March 30 against Nevada and April 7 against San Jose State. He ranks 3rd in program history with 21 career saves. Anthony Rea (2001-05) and Mike McDonald (1994-97) share the program record with 25 career saves. Karalus recorded the second-most saves in Bronco single-season history with 11 as a sophomore last year, earning First-Team All-WCC Honors and being named to the NCBWA Midseason Stopper of the Year Watch List.
Evan Brisentine makes his 13th appearance and fifth start of the season for the Broncos Saturday. He threw 5.2 innings and allowed five earned runs on six hits with five walks and a strikeout to finish with a no-decision Tuesday against Stanford. On Tuesday, April 7 against San Jose State, the Bronco lefty threw 7.0 innings and allowed an unearned run on five hits with no walks and no strikeouts to earn his second win of the season and of his career. The senior earned his first career victory by throwing 6.1 shutout innings of relief with three strikeouts March 22 against No. 30 San Diego. Brisentine has allowed one earned run or less in four of his last five outings, three of which have spanned at least 5.1 innings.
Eric Lex makes his eighth appearance and sixth start of the season Sunday. He allowed six runs (five earned) on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 5.1 innings last Sunday at Pepperdine. Lex has allowed 25 hits on the season; 25 of those hits have gone for singles and only four for extra bases (all doubles). He did not allow an earned run over an 11.2 inning span March 1 - April 4. The Broncos have combined to score only 18 runs in the seven games Lex has appeared in this season (2.57 rpg).
Stevie Berman posted multiple hits in all three games of the Pepperdine series last weekend; he was the only batter for either the Broncos or Waves to accomplish the feat. Grant Meylan and T.J. Braff each produced four hits over the four-game stretch April 7-12 and Meylan drew three walks to extend his WCC-leading total to 31 on the season.
Meylan's 31 walks have eclipsed Santa Clara's leader from last year, the then-freshman Berman who posted 30 for the season. Meylan has already recorded the most walks in a single season since 2009, when Curtis Wagner drew 32. Matt Long drew 36 walks for the Broncos in 2008. Ed Giovanola's single-season record of 55 walks has stood since 1989.
Jose Vizcaino, Jr. (.339/.417/.617) leads the Broncos in most major offensive categories, including home runs (6), RBIs (25) and stolen bases (7). He has amassed 18 extra-base hits this season (10 doubles, two triples, six home runs); Jake Brodt ranks second on the team with 10 extra-base hits. Vizcaino, Jr. doubled in his first at-bat of the Pepperdine series Friday to reach a career-best 17-game hitting streak, which was snapped Saturday.
HORNED FROGS
Connor Wanhanen leads the TCU offense with a .386 batting average, Cody Jones ranks second at .353 and Nolan Brown is hitting .310 on the season. Evan Skoug ranks first on the team with 25 RBIs, while Wanhanen, Derek Odell and Keaton Jones have each driven in 20 runs on the season. Jones has 21 walks in 2015, and is one of seven Horned Frog batters to draw 10 or more walks entering the weekend.
Weekend starters Mitchell Traver, Preston Morrison and Alex Young have a combined record of 18-4 in 25 starts this season. They lead a pitching staff ranked No. 4 in the country with a 2.30 ERA on the season. Riley Ferrell has picked up nine of TCU's 10 saves this year, and allowed only two hits in 18.0 innings (.037 opposing batting average) with 31 strikeouts.
TCU has outscored opponents 201-104 and has a .980 fielding percentage as a team. They have score 36 of those 201 runs in the first inning.
