Posted: Feb 23, 2019
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – For the second consecutive game, Santa Clara baseball got stellar pitching to defeat Washington State 3-1 at Stephen Schott Stadium on Saturday. Starter Keegan McCarville along with relievers Locke Bernhardt and Ethan Heinrich combined to hold the Cougars to one unearned run on nine hits and walked just three batters.
Santa Clara (2-4) got a run each in the first, fourth and seventh innings including a solo home run by Jake MacNichols in the fourth which turned out to be the winning run.
With the Broncos up 3-1, Heinrich closed out the game with a scoreless ninth inning to earn his first save as a Bronco and gave McCarville his first Bronco win.
Washington State (1-6) starter Dylan Steen allowed two runs on six hits over five innings to take the loss.
The Broncos opened up the score in the bottom of the first against Steen when Ryan McCarthy (0-for-4, RBI) brought home the speedy Cam Allie (2-for-3, R) on a grounder to the shortstop. Allie led off the inning with a single against the right-hander and advanced to second on a wild pitch. The next batter, Jason Dicochea (1-for-4) beat out a dribbler in front of the plate for an infield single to put runners at the corners before McCarthy's RBI grounder.
After MacNichols' solo home run in the fourth put the Broncos up 2-0, the Cougars (1-6) threatened in the fifth when it loaded the bases with one out on three consecutive singles by Dillon Plew (3-for-5), Danny Sinatro (1-for-4) and Andres Alvarez (1-for-4) against McCarville. However, the Bronco right-hander hunkered down to retire the next two batters including a sharply hit liner by Kyle Manzardo (0-for-4) to centerfield that Blake Faddoul back pedaled to catch to end the threat.
In the sixth, Washington State took advantage of a Bronco defensive miscue to cut the lead to 2-1. With two outs and Garrett Gouldsmith (2-for-4, R) at first, Kodie Kolden (1-for-4) singled off the glove of Bronco shortstop Dawson Brigman who was deep in the hole. The ball carried into left field to allow Gouldsmith to advance to third base but came home when left fielder McCarthy's throw back to second base was off the target.
Santa Clara picked up an insurance run in the seventh when Brigman (0-for-4, R) who reached base on an error, scored on back-to-back wild pitches by reliever Zane Mills.
NOTES
Since allowing two runs in the top of the first on Friday's game, the Bronco pitching staff has only allowed one unearned run in the last 17 innings.
NEXT UP
The series finale is on Sunday at Noon. Starters are right-hander Alex Reelfs (0-0, 0.00, 2 IP) for the Broncos and right-hander Hayden Rosenkrantz (0-1, 4.50) for the Cougars.
TICKETS
Season or single-game tickets are available. Click here to purchase online or contact the ticket office in Leavey Center weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. at (408) 554-4660 or BroncoTickets@scu.edu. Group discounts are also available through our ticket office sales and service consultants. Gates to Stephen Schott Stadium, as well as its ticket booth, are open one hour prior to the start of the game.
PARKING
Parking is available in the Guadalupe lot, adjacent to 455 El Camino Real. The Guadalupe lot is reserved beginning 60 minutes before game time through the end of the event for free parking. Baseball parking is no longer allowed in the lot behind Schott Stadium's left field wall. Overflow parking is available in the Leavey Center lot. Spectators that plan to arrive more than an hour prior to game time on weekdays are encouraged to purchase a parking permit for the Leavey lot. All SCU lot parking is free on weekends. ADA parking is available in the lot directly in front of the main gates; there is no general public parking in this lot. Follow signs for parking instructions. Click here for a campus parking map.
