March 26, 2009
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara baseball opens the 2009 West Coast Conference schedule hosting Loyola Marymount University in a three-game series this weekend. The Broncos and Lions begin the series on Friday, Mar. 27 at 7 p.m. and continue play on Saturday, Mar. 28 at 6 p.m. The WCC series will come to a close on Sunday, Mar. 29 at 1 p.m. All three games will be played at Stephen Schott Stadium.
Last Time Out
The Broncos saw their seven-game win streak come to a close on Wednesday with a 9-6 loss on the road against the Golden Bears of Cal. Freshman J.R. Graham scored two runs for the Broncos, while senior Matt Long and junior Geoff Klein tied the game-high three hits. Long and fellow senior Juan Parra also had a game-high two RBIs each.
Follow The Broncos Online!
All three home games this weekend will feature live video and audio streaming via Bronco All-Access on www.SantaClaraBroncos.com. Chetan Chaudhari and Stephen Hobbs will be calling the play-by-play action from Schott Stadium. Live in-game stats will also be available via Game Tracker.
Bronco Watch
Junior Klein leads the Broncos with a .370 batting average. He also owns a team-best 22 RBIs. Senior Brady Fuerst leads the squad with 10 doubles and is second with a .343 batting average. On the mound, Alex Rivers is 2-0 with a team-best 1.85 ERA. Nate Garcia leads with a 4-1 record and 38 batters struck out.
Battle on the Mound
Friday • Nate Garcia (4-1, 3.22 ERA, 38 K) vs. Lee Roberts (1-0, 3.27 ERA, 32 K)
Saturday • Thain Simon (2-2, 3.81 ERA, 22 K) vs. Ernie Cho (1-2, 6.34 ERA, 20 K)
Sunday • Alex Rivers (2-0, 1.85 ERA, 27 K) vs. TBA
Scouting Loyola Marymount
The Lions enter the weekend with a 13-12 overall record and lead the WCC in runs and RBIs. LMU is also riding a five-game win streak that includes a four-game sweep of reigning National Champions No. 24 Fresno State and a single game victory over CSU Northridge. WCC Co-Player of the Week Angelo Songo leads the Lions hitting .384 with 34 runs and 29 RBIs. He also has seven home runs.
Last Time vs. Loyola Marymount
SCU won last year's WCC series 2-1 in Los Angeles. The Lions won the first game, 6-9, but the Broncos rallied back to take game two, 7-2, and the game three, 5-4.
All-Time vs. Loyola Marymount
Friday's game marks the 157th meeting between the Broncos and Lions in a series SCU leads 89-67-0.
On Deck
SCU will play two midweek games before continuing WCC action against San Diego next weekend. The Broncos host the Dirtbags of Long Beach State on Tuesday, March 31 at 6 p.m. at Schott Stadium. Santa Clara then travels up the 101 to take on Bay Area Rival Stanford on Wednesday, Apr. 1 at 5 p.m. at Sunken Diamond.
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.
In the WCC
Heading into the start of WCC action, the Broncos are second in doubles and third in slugging percentage as a team. Individually, Long leads the league in triples, while Jon Karcich is second in on base percentage and Fuerst is third in doubles. Klein is also tied for third in RBIs. On the mound, Garcia has pitched the most innings while Rivers as the second best ERA in the WCC. See page 5 for the complete list.
On the National Stage
As a team, Santa Clara is ranked in the top 100 in doubles (No. 24), doubles per game (No. 5), sac bunts (No. 79), hit by pitch (No. 66), ERA (No. 95), strikeouts per nine innings (No. 39), hits allowed per game (No. 71) and fielding percentage (No. 24). Individually, the Broncos have seven different players ranked in 11 categories. Rivers leads the way with a No. 9 ranking in hits allowed per nine innings, while Fuerst is No. 16 in doubles per game and Long is No. 17 in triples. See page 5 for the complete list.
Long Climbs in SCU Record Books
Outfielder Long entered the Santa Clara all-time record books after the game against UC Davis and is now ranked in four career categories. He is fifth in triples (11), seventh in hits (230), eighth in total bases (333), and 10th in at bats (729). The Los Altos, Calif., native is not far out of entering two more categories - extra base hits and runs.
SCU Record Books Watch List
Gone Streaking
Seniors Fuerst and Long carry team-best hitting streaks into this week. Fuerst is on a 13-game streak that began on Feb. 28 against San Jose State and includes nine doubles, 12 runs and seven RBIs. Matt Long is on an 11-game streak, which began on March 7 at Oregon and includes one home run, three triples, three doubles, 13 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.
