March 24, 2009
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara baseball battles California in a midweek contest prior to opening West Coast Conference action this weekend against Loyola Marymount. The Broncos and Golden Bears have a 2:30 p.m. first pitch at Evans Diamond in Berkeley.
Last Time Out
The Broncos compiled their largest win streak of the season thus far after going 7-0 over the last two weeks. SCU defeated the Aggies of UC Davis in a 13-7 slugfest, and went on to sweep three-game series against Cornell and Dartmouth.
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Bronco Watch
SCU enters the week with a 10-7 overall record and is riding a seven-game win streak. The Broncos are led by Jon Karcich, who is hitting .351. David Abraham is right behind him, hitting .350. Matt Long has scored a team-best 15 runs, three triples and two home runs, while Geoff Klein has driven in a team-high 22 RBIs. On the mound, Alex Rivers has a 2-0 record and a 1.85 ERA and Nate Garcia owns a 4-1 record with a 3.22 ERA. He has also struck out a team-high 38 batters.
Scouting Cal
The Golden Bears enter the midweek contest with a 12-8 overall record. Shortstop Brian Guinn leads the team, hitting .397 and has 19 runs and two triples. Outfielder Mark Canha has a team-best 24 RBIs and eight home runs thus far. He is batting .392. On the mound, Michael Bugary leads with a 1.64 ERA and a 3-0 record. He has allowed just five runs and struck out 35 batters in 11 relief appearances.
Last Time vs. Cal
Santa Clara battled Cal in its 2009 home opener on Feb. 25 at Stephen Schott Stadium. The Golden Bears came away with a 12-2 victory. The Broncos' two runs were scored by Long (home run) and Klein (on a Karcich double).
All-Time vs. Cal
The Broncos and Golden Bears meet for the 221st time on Wednesday. Cal leads the all-time series 124-90-6.
On Deck
SCU begins West Coast Conference play this weekend against Loyola Marymount. The Broncos and Lions begin the three-game series on Friday, Mar. 27 at 7 p.m. The series continues on Saturday, Mar. 28 at 6 p.m. and Sunday, Mar. 29 at 1 p.m. All three games will be played at Schott Stadium.
SCU Record Books Watch List
Rivers Named WCC Pitcher of the Week
Santa Clara junior Rivers was named the West Coast Conference's Pitcher of the Week; it was announced Monday. It is the first weekly honor for the right-hander from Lodi, Calif., and is the third Pitcher of the Week accolade for the Broncos this season. Fellow junior Garcia has received the honor twice. Rivers (2-0) started the second game of a three-game series against the Ivy League's Dartmouth. He helped the Broncos to a 3-0 shutout of the Big Green in game two of the Saturday, March 21 doubleheader. The 5-foot-10 Rivers had a no-hitter going into the eighth inning. He gave up two hits to start off the eighth inning before retiring. Rivers also struck out a career-high 11 batters in the victory.
Long Climbs In SCU Record Books
Outfielder Long entered the Santa Clara all-time record books after the game against UC Davis and is not ranked in four career categories. He is fifth in triples (11), ninth in hits (227) and total bases (330), and 10th in at bats (725). The Los Altos, Calif., native is not far out of entering two more categories - extra base hits and runs.
Gone Streaking
Seniors Brady Fuerst and Long carry team-best hitting streaks into this week. Fuerst is on a 12-game streak that began on Feb. 28 against San Jose State and includes nine doubles, 11 runs and six RBIs. Matt Long is on a 10-game streak, which began on March 7 at Oregon and includes one home run, three triples, three doubles, 11 RBIs and 11 runs.
Going...Going...Gone!
Chris Morton and Patrick Glenn joined Abraham as the latest Broncos to register their first collegiate home runs. Morton and Glenn had back-to-back homers in game three of the series against Dartmouth last weekend. Long leads the Broncos with two home runs.
Lights! Camera! Action!
Santa Clara will return to the bright lights of national television this season. The Broncos' final game against the Toreros of San Diego on April 5 will be aired on ESPNU. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. from Stephen Schott Stadium. Last season, Santa Clara played Bay Area rival Stanford in two games televised on CBS College Sports. The Broncos are 1-1 in TV games.
