Posted: Mar 09, 2019
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Santa Clara baseball suffered two losses in the doubleheader to Omaha on Saturday, falling 2-0 in the first game and 7-4 in the night cap.
Game 1: Omaha 2 – Santa Clara 0
Omaha shutout Santa Clara for the second game in a row on an combined effort by starter Payton Kinney and reliever Tyler Daugherty. Kinney tossed eight innings scattering seven hits and striking out six to pick up the win and Daugherty closed out the ninth to earn the save.
Omaha (6-5-1) picked up a run in the second on an RBI grounder by Ben Palensky (0-for-3, RBI) to bring home Brett Bonar (1-for-4, R) who singled to lead off the inning off Bronco starter Matthew McGarry.
The Mavericks added another run in the third inning on Thomas Debonville's (1-for-4, RBI) RBI single scoring Jack Lombardi from third. Lombardi drew a leadoff walk and moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by Breyden Eckhout before moving to third Keil Krunwiede's flyball to right.
Santa Clara (3-10) got another solid outing by its pitching staff with McGarry allowing a pair of runs in four innings and a career-best outing by Brandon Buckley in long relief who pitched five scoreless innings without allowing a hit. The redshirt sophomore struck out seven, his second highest career total.
The Broncos had opportunities in the fourth and fifth frames when it loaded the bases but Kinney got out of the jam striking out Dawson Brigman in the fourth and Matt Jew in the fifth to end the Broncos threats.
In the ninth, the Broncos put two runners on base when Jake MacNichols (1-for-3) drew a leadoff walk and Ryan McCarthy (1-for-3) singled against Kinney to knock out the Mavericks starter. Daugherty came in and retired Brigman before inducing Austin Reyes to a game-ending double play to earn his third save of the season.
McGarry (0-1) was saddled with the loss. Cam Allie was the only player with multiple hits for either teams going 2-for-4.
Game 2: Omaha 7 – Santa Clara 4
Santa Clara scored its first run of the series in the fourth inning on Jason Dicochea's (1-for-3, R, 2 RBIs) RBI grounder to tie the game at 1-all, but Omaha put up four runs in the fifth inning en route to a 7-4 win in game two of the doubleheader.
Broncos (3-11) starter Brendan Ecklebarger was pitching effectively in the first four innings giving up one run and striking out five but ran into problems in the fifth. The Bronco lefty allowed the first two Maverick hitters to get on base to start the frame and gave up a 2-RBI single to Keil Krumwiede (1-for-5, R, 2 RBIs) and an RBI triple to Thomas Debonville (2-for-5, R, RBI) followed by a sacrifice fly to Brett Bonar (0-for-4, RBI) before getting knocked out, trailing 5-1.
Santa Clara tried to claw back into the game with a run in the fifth and the sixth to cut the Mavericks lead to 5-3. However, Omaha (7-5-1) scored two insurance runs in the eighth on Braden Rogers' (3-for-4, R, 2 RBIs) double scoring Josiah Scott (1-for-3, 2 R) and Ben Palensky (1-for-3, R) to make it 7-3.
Omaha starter Spencer Koelewyn (1-1) threw five innings allowing just two hits and two runs, walked six and struck out seven to get his first win of the season. Reliever Daugherty came in the eighth to face Andre Nnebe with the bases loaded but struck out the Bronco slugger and closed out the ninth to pick up his second save of the day and fourth in the season.
Ecklebarger (1-2) took the loss for the Broncos.
Dawson Brigan and Nnebe each had two hits.
The series finale takes place on Sunday at 11 a.m. with Russell Grant II on the mound for the Broncos against a TBA pitcher for the Mavericks.
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.
