March 29, 2008
SAN DIEGO, Calif. - The Santa Clara baseball team evened the series with an impressive 12-10 win over the University of San Diego Saturday afternoon at Cunningham Stadium. With the win, the Broncos improved to 13-9 on the season and 1-1 in West Coast Conference action; while the 14th-ranked Toreros are now 19-9 overall and 1-1 in WCC play.
Tommy Medica registered a season-high five RBIs on two doubles. Evan LeBlanc went 2-for-4 with three runs and his first triple as a Bronco.
Santa Clara jumped to a 6-0 lead in the second inning scoring on five hits. With a Brady Fuerst RBI single to center field, Jon Karcich scored first for SCU. Long then singled to right field that allowed Patrick Glenn to score. Fuerst then scored along with Matt Long on Medica's two-run double to left field. The final two runs, Medica and LeBlanc, came in on Ryan Conan's single to left field. San Diego then registered two runs in their half of the inning on a Zach Walkers two-run single that scored Ryan Davis and Kevin Hansen. The Broncos led 6-2.
SCU took back one run in the top of the third inning as the bases were loaded and Glenn was walked. Gabe Alcantar scored for the Broncos, but by the end of the fourth inning, USD had made it a one run game, 7-6.
The Toreros then tied the game in the fifth inning on a Hansen sacrifice fly to centerfield that brought home Meador.
Santa Clara then put up three runs on four hits in a wild sixth inning. The Broncos led off with back-to-back triples by Long and LeBlanc to record the first run. Medica then hit an RBI sacrifice fly to right field to score the second run. Geoff Klein then hit a ball deep into right field with on Conan on base. The ball bounced off the outfield fence, but the umpires called it a home run. After an argument with the umpires but USD's head coach Rich Hill, they gathered together and changed it to a triple, which scored the third run of the inning for Santa Clara.
However, San Diego responded with three runs in their half of the inning to knot the score, 10-10.
The Broncos then scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning to claim the win.
Justin Kuehn, the second of the Broncos relief for starter Alex Rivers, earned his first win of the season. He allowed no runs on one hit in 0.1 innings of work. Meanwhile, Thain Simon (6-0) registered his first collegiate save, allowing no runs on one hit and striking out four Toreros in 3.0 innings.
The Broncos and Toreros return to action in the final game of the series on Sunday, March 30. First pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Cunningham Stadium.
