April 4, 2009
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara baseball team lost its second straight West Coast Conference series of the season as the Broncos fell 22-10 to the No. 23 Toreros of San Diego Saturday night at Stephen Schott Stadium.
The Toreros (21-11, 5-0 WCC) out-hit the Broncos (10-15, 0-5 WCC) 22-20, while SCU committed five fielding errors. The 10 runs Santa Clara scored was the most the team has registered in a loss this season.
The win went to Matt Thomson (5-0). He went seven innings and struck out only two Broncos. All 10 SCU runs were credited to him. The loss went to Thain Simon (2-3). Simon tossed five innings and gave up 11 runs, nine of which were earned. He also struck out four Toreros.
For SCU, Geoff Klein and Curtis Wagner tied the game-high three RBIs, while David Abraham had a team-best two runs and added two RBIs. For USD, Nick McCoy went 3-for-5 with a game-high four runs. He also tied the game-high three RBIs. James Meador had a game-high four hits. Chris Engell and Bryan Haar each had home runs.
USD opened the game with five runs in the second inning but the Broncos responded with eight runs in the bottom of the inning to take the lead. Klein started with a stand up double to centerfield. The bases were then loaded as Brady Fuerst was hit by a pitch and Chris Morton singled to right field. Santa Clara drove in its first run on an Andrew Biancardi base hit.
Two runners were then plated as Abraham singled through the right side. Fuerst and Morton scored. The bases remained full as Matt Long was hit by a pitch. Wagner then plated two runners, Biancardi and Abraham, with a base hit to left field. Santa Clara kept the bases loaded with just one out on the board to bring up the innings leadoff hitter Klein. The catcher doubled to clear the bases and score Long, Wagner and Jon Karcich.
Santa Clara led 8-5.
The Broncos held onto the lead until the fifth inning, when the Toreros rallied for four runs to knot the score and claim a one-run edge, 9-8. USD tacked on four additional runs in the sixth inning to claim a 13-8 advantage.
Santa Clara added on two runs to cut the lead to three-runs. Abraham doubled to centerfield and Kevin Madden had a base hit to advance Abraham to third. Wagner earned his third RBI of the game as he grounded out and Abraham scored. Madden moved to third on the play and then advanced home as Karcich bunted. The Broncos trailed 13-10.
However, the Toreros added a total of nine runs in the final three innings to take the game, 22-10.
The Broncos and Toreros conclude the series on Sunday, Apr. 5 at 3:30 p.m. in a nationally televised game on ESPNU.
