April 15, 2009
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara baseball team saw its four-game win streak come to an end with a 16-3 loss to Stanford Wednesday night at Stephen Schott Stadium. The Broncos are now 14-18 on the season, while the Cardinal improved to 15-13 overall.
The win went to Brian Bursick (1-0). He tossed just two innings but gave up no hits and runs. The loss went to freshman Paul Twining (0-1). He tossed four innings and struck out a season-high five batters. J.R. Graham also had a solid outing in relief as he struck out six Cardinal batters in 3.2 innings of work.
Although the Cardinal out-hit the Broncos 17-6, SCU struck out 13 batters compared the three Ks Stanford posted.
Juniors Geoff Klein and Jon Karcich each had two hits, while Klein posted two RBIs with his two-run home run. For Stanford, Colin Walsh went 3-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs.
Toby Gerhart gave the Cardinal a 1-0 lead in the first inning with a solo home run to left field. After a perfect 3K inning from Twining, Stanford then improved its lead to 3-0 with two runs in the third inning. Jake Schlander scored on a Walsh double.
Stanford's pitching went through 11 Santa Clara batters before Karcich ended the potential shutout. Karcich doubled to left field. Klein then launched a solid shot over the left centerfield wall hitting the scoreboard to make it a one-run game, 3-2. Karcich was brought home on the play for Klein's 41st RBI of the season.
However in the fifth, the Cardinal rallied for two runs with no outs to reclaim a three-run advantage, 5-2. Stanford then tilted the scoreboard in the sixth inning with 10 runs to take a 15-2 lead. The Bronco bullpen of Reece Kiriu, Joe Supple and Graham faced 14 batters. Brent Milleville and Zach Jones scored twice in the outing.
SCU got runners in scoring position in the bottom of the sixth. Karcich registered the Broncos' third hit of the game with a base hit. He advanced to second on a Klein walk, but neither runner could be brought home.
Graham successfully got the Broncos out of the top of the seventh with three straight strikeouts.
Santa Clara tried to rally in the home half of the seventh as then got three runners on base. Andrew Biancardi hit a leadoff double down the left field line. He advanced to third on a Curtis Wagner groundout and then scored on a wild pitch from Kyle Thompson. Kevin Madden and David Abraham were dealt back-to-back walks, but Lucas Herbst grounded into a double play to close out the inning.
Stanford scored its final run in the ninth as Jin Moon scored on a throwing error by SCU shortstop Ian O'Connor.
The Broncos return to West Coast Conference action on April 17-19 against the Dons of San Francisco. The series begins at 3 p.m. on Friday at Benedetti Field. It continues on Saturday at 1 p.m. and concludes on Sunday at 1 p.m.
