PORTLAND, Ore. — Santa Clara baseball produced its biggest ninth inning of the season with five runs to overturn a 5-3 deficit on its way to an 8-6 win over Portland Sunday at Joe Etzel field. The Broncos posted their first West Coast Conference series sweep of the season by winning all three games against the Pilots.
Santa Clara is currently on a six-game winning streak overall and a five-game winning streak in WCC play, each of which is the longest such streak under fourth-year head coach Dan O'Brien. The Broncos have scored the game-winning run in the ninth inning or later in four of those six wins. With the sweep of Portland, the Broncos remain in contention for a spot in the four-team WCC Baseball Championship.
The Broncos (24-26, 11-13 WCC) pulled within one run in the ninth inning on an RBI double to right center field by Grant Meylan with one out; Joe Becht scored from first base on the play. Jose Vizcaino, Jr. tied the game with an RBI single to center field and after the Pilots (10-39, 5-19 WCC) replaced Carl Snaring with Kody Kuhlman, Stevie Berman hit an RBI single to center field to give the Broncos their first lead since the first inning at 6-5. Portland intentionally walked TJ Braff, and with the bases loaded, Jake Brodt hit a two-run single to left field that made the score 8-5.
"Our boys wont stop competing, and I love that about them," O'Brien said. "They've had their backs against the wall for two weeks now and are fighting their tails off for one another. That's what great teams do, and these guys have developed into exactly that — a great ballclub."
Turner Gill led off the bottom of the ninth with Portland's third home run of the game to pull the Pilots within two runs at 8-6 against Santa Clara's Mitchell White. Following Eric Sapp's groundout for the first out of the inning, Portland loaded the bases on a double by Cody Lenahan, four-pitch walk by Dan Whittaker and hit by pitch by Brady Kerr. Pinch hitter Cooper Hummel grounded into a 6-4-3 game-ending double play with the tying run at second and winning run at first.
White (W, 3-2) entered the game with runners on second and third in the bottom of the eighth, and recorded three straight outs to keep the Pilots scoreless and the Broncos within two runs. He allowed an earned run on two hits with a walk and two strikeouts in 2.0 relief innings. White has recorded either a win or a save in eight of his last nine outings, posting three wins and five saves over that span.
"Mitch has that maturity to handle those situations," O'Brien said. "He's talented, but his maturity is truly what makes him successful. He doesn't panic and just keeps competing on every pitch. He's a pretty special young man."
Bronco starter Steven Wilson allowed four earned runs on seven hits with three walks and six strikeouts in 6.0 innings. The redshirt sophomore retired nine of the last 10 batters he faced, including back-to-back strikeouts to end the home sixth.
Pilot starter Davis Tominaga allowed two earned runs on four hits with three walks and four strikeouts in 6.0 innings. Snaring (L, 1-2) took the loss in relief as one of four Portland pitchers to throw in the ninth inning.
Three straight Broncos reached to open the scoring in the first as Kyle Cortopassi singled and scored from second base on an RBI double by Berman. In the bottom of the inning, Portland's Kevin Wade tied the contest on an RBI single and Lenahan followed with a two-run homer to put the hosts ahead 3-1. Lenahan homered to lead off the fourth and increase the Portland lead to 4-1. The senior entered the game with three home runs in 176 career starts for the Pilots.
In his first start since April 12, Austin Fisher hit an RBI groundout to make the score 4-2 in the fourth. The teams traded punches again in the latter innings, as Gill hit an RBI single for Portland in the seventh and the Broncos scored a run when Brodt hit into a bases-loaded double play in the eighth to make the score 5-3. Santa Clara was held without a run after putting runners on the corners with one out in the seventh, and scored one run in the eighth after loading the bases with no outs.
Meylan, Vizcaino, Jr., Berman and Brodt all recorded four hits in the victory, while Berman and Brodt led the Broncos with two RBIs apiece. Lenahan led all batters by going 3-for-5 with a double, two home runs, three RBIs and two runs scored. Gill finished the day at 2-for-4 with two RBIs and a run scored.
The Broncos head to Municipal Stadium Tuesday for a 6 p.m. first pitch against San Jose State for their final road game of the regular season. Santa Clara hosts BYU in a Thursday-Saturday series to close out the regular season at Schott Stadium.
GAME NOTES: First pitch was at 1 p.m. … time of the game was 3:18 … attendance was 347.
