SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Santa Clara baseball scored four runs in the first inning on its way to a 6-5 victory over Gonzaga as part of the 10th anniversary celebration of Stephen Schott Stadium Sunday afternoon. The Broncos held off a ninth-inning Gonzaga rally as Mitchell White closed out the contest with the potential game-tying run on third and potential go-ahead run on first to earn his second save in as many days.
The Broncos picked up their first West Coast Conference series win since taking two of three games against Pacific March 27-29. Former Santa Clara pitcher Stephen Schott '60, the namesake of Santa Clara's baseball facility who donated $4 million toward the stadium in 2004, threw out Sunday's first pitch.
Santa Clara produced its biggest first inning of the season by scoring a run in four straight at-bats of the opening frame. Stevie Berman began the streak with a single through the left side, followed by an RBI double from T.J. Braff and an RBI single from Jake Brodt to make the score 3-0. With runners on the corners, TC Florentine hit a high, bouncing ground ball to Gonzaga first baseman Taylor Jones, who threw to second base for the force out; Florentine's RBI fielder's choice gave Santa Clara its fourth run.
"We just wanted to go in aggressive and it paid off for us right away in putting that four-spot up," Florentine said. "We just kept going and never looked back."
Evan Brisentine made the start and allowed two earned runs on five hits with four walks and a strikeout for the Broncos (18-24, 6-12 WCC). The left-hander held Gonzaga to one run in the first two innings, despite the Bulldogs (20-21, 10-11 WCC) putting two baserunners aboard with one out in the first and two more on with no outs in the second.
"We're all about setting the tone — that's one of the big things that we emphasize," Broncos head coach Dan O'Brien said. "Evan Brisentine wasn't really sharp today, but he got Joe Becht to make a big league play for him in the first inning. So we set the tone defensively, Brisentine set the tone on the mound, and then we set the tone offensively by having that four-spot. That really was the game."
Nick Medeiros (W, 1-0) picked up the victory in 2.2 innings of relief, allowing an earned run on two hits with two walks and two strikeouts. Max Kuhns retired all four batters he faced before White (SV, 2) took the mound for Santa Clara in the ninth. Gonzaga starter Brandon Bailey (L, 6-2) allowed six runs (five earned) on nine hits with four walks and three strikeouts in 4.2 innings.
Mitchell Gunsolus walked in a run for the Bulldogs with one out in the second inning to make the score 4-1. Gonzaga's next batter, Sam Brown, lined into an inning-ending double play on a great catch by Bronco first baseman Brodt, who tagged first to double off Gunsolus.
Becht led off the Bronco second inning with a single and reached second base on a sacrifice bunt from Grant Meylan. Becht stole third on a failed hit-and-run attempt and came in to score on a throwing error by Gonzaga catcher Joey Harris in the same sequence, which pushed the Bronco lead to 5-1. Santa Clara had eight different batters record a hit through the end of the fourth inning in the victory.
"This weekend, we really focused on attacking the fastball and staying disciplined at the plate," Florentine said. "We weren't chasing too many pitches down and out of the strike zone."
Taylor Jones led off the third inning with a home run to pull Gonzaga within three runs at 5-2. He led all batters by going 4-for-5 with a double, home run, two RBIs and a run scored.
In the fifth, Florentine notched one of his team-high three hits — a triple down the right field line that drove in Brodt and extend the lead to 6-2. From the No. 7 spot, Florentine led the Broncos with two RBIs and six different Santa Clara batters scored a run Sunday afternoon.
"When you see a bottom half of the order contributing, you're usually looking at a pretty good day at the yard," O'Brien said. "We not only had that today, but last night as well."
Two innings later, Jones hit an RBI double for Gonzaga and got the visitors back within three runs. Kuhns entered the game with two outs and runners on first and second before issuing a fly ball out to left field off the bat of Tyler Frost to end the Gonzaga seventh.
White walked pinch hitter Jimmy Sinatro and allowed a single to Gunsolus to put two runners aboard with no outs in the ninth. After a strikeout, Jones loaded the bases with a single to right field, and Justin Jacobs lined out to left field. Frost hit a two-run single that bounced through the right side of the infield to make it a one-run contest. Jeffrey Bohling grounded out to Santa Clara third baseman Kyle Cortopassi to end the game.
"The closer job is all about composure, and that's the first time [White] has been tested," O'Brien said. "That's his second close opportunity and he's 2-for-2 in the last two days … he was tested and he kept his composure. To be this good this quickly after surgery is pretty exciting. His future is very bright."
Santa Clara's first game at Schott Stadium was played on April 30, 2005 against Gonzaga. The Broncos won 3-2 on a walkoff hit by Michael Thompson in the 13th inning.
"For our guys to lose they way they did on Friday night and bounce back and play two of the better baseball games they've played all year in the last two days," O'Brien said, "With Steve Schott throwing out the first pitch today and Herm Carmassi throwing out the first pitch yesterday, that's when you start talking about the baseball gods and other things that factor in.
"Good things are happening to good people — I'm talking about Herm, Steve, the players and the assistant coaches. There are a lot of people working really hard and having good practices; now, you're starting to see good things happen."
Santa Clara hosts the UC Davis Aggies Tuesday for a 6 p.m. first pitch.
GAME NOTES: First pitch was at 1:06 p.m. … time of the game was 2:50 … attendance was 410.
