SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara continued its winning ways, soundly beating Pepperdine 16-7 Thursday afternoon in a make up game dating back to a rain-out on Sunday, April 11.
The Bronco offense plated runs in each of the first four innings then broke open a close game by scoring eight times in the eighth.
All-American Tommy Medica went 3-for-5, which included his 16th double, second triple, 11th homerun and RBI Nos. 48, 49 and 50. He finished the day a single shy of the cycle.
Santa Clara (20-24; 5-10 WCC) has won five of its last six and eclipses its win total of 19 from a year ago. The Broncos have a realistic chance at finishing the season with a winning record, inching closer to .500 with 11 games to play.
Medica's two-run shot down the leftfield line capped-off SCU's eight-run eighth inning off Pepperdine reliever Brian McIlhenny. Medica - the reigning West Coast Conference `Player of the Week' - will be one of six final-year student-athletes to be honored Sunday when the Broncos wrap up the home portion of their 2010 schedule against USF this weekend.
Pepperdine (14-24; 3-6 WCC) continues to struggle as of late, dropping to 3-8 since beating Santa Clara on Friday, April 9. The Waves began the season ranked in the Collegiate Baseball Top 40 Preseason Poll.
The game was tight through seven innings, with Santa Clara building an 8-6 lead thanks to Drew Ozanne's two-RBI single in the third, Medica's RBI-triple in the fourth and three Pepperdine walks, which allowed SCU to generate another run in the sixth.
Cory Hall (2-0) goes down as the pitcher of record for the Broncos, working effectively for two-plus innings of mid-relief.
Pepperdine pitchers issued 13 walks and its defense committed three errors. Wave starter Aaron Gates (2-7) walked seven in four innings and took the loss.
Friday night's 7 p.m. series-opener with USF is `Disco Night.' Fans dressed in disco era attire will be eligible to win an assortment of prizes.
GAME NOTES: UT Tommy Medica (.385 BA) leads the WCC in RBI (50) and ranks among the league's top 5 in virtually every offensive category... 1B Curtis Wagner (.405 BA) extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a double in the third inning... freshmen twins 2B Drew Ozanne (.370 BA) and OF Matt Ozanne (.400 BA) are leading the team in batting, hitting .524 and .435 respectively in SCU's last 10 games... if Santa Clara can win 8-of-11 down the stretch the team would finish the season with a winning record (28-27).
