March 30, 2009
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara baseball will battle two non-conference opponents in midweek action this week as the Broncos host the Dirtbags of Long Beach State and travel up the 101 to take on the Cardinal of Stanford. SCU and Long Beach State will face off on Tuesday, Mar. 31 at 6 p.m. at Stephen Schott Stadium. Santa Clara and Stanford then battle on Wednesday, Apr. 1 at 5 p.m. at Sunken Diamond in Palo Alto.
Last Time Out
The Broncos were swept by the Lions of Loyola Marymount in their first series of West Coast Conference action. For the weekend, junior catcher Geoff Klein led the team with six hits and five RBIs. He had two runs, one double and one home run. Senior infielder Brady Fuerst had two doubles and a home run as well.
Follow The Broncos Online!
Tuesday's game against Long Beach State will feature live video and audio streaming via Bronco All-Access on www.SantaClaraBroncos.com. Chetan Chaudhari will be calling the play-by-play action from Schott Stadium. Live in-game stats will also be available via Game Tracker.
Bronco Watch
Klein continues to lead the Broncos with a .384 batting average. He also owns a team-best 27 RBIs. Fuerst leads the squad with 12 doubles and is tied for second with freshman Andrew Biancardi with a .333 batting average. Senior Matt Long has a team-best 17 runs, with three doubles, three triples and three home runs. He is second on the team with 20 RBIs. On the mound, Alex Rivers remains 2-0, while Nate Garcia has a team-best 2.91 ERA and 47 batters struck out.
Scouting Long Beach State
The Dirtbags enter Tuesday's game with a 10-12 record after winning three straight against UNLV. Steve Tinoco leads the team with a .385 batting average and four home runs. Jonathan Jones has a team-best 20 runs, while Devin Lohman and T.J. Mittelstaedt are tied with 16 RBIs each. On the mound, the Broncos will face LHP Jason Markovitz. He has a 0.96 ERA and is 0-0 on the season. He has made nine relief appearances and in 9.1 innings has given up two runs, one earned, on eight hits.
Last Time vs. Long Beach State
It has been 21 years since the Broncos and Dirtbags have battled. Santa Clara won the last meeting on Feb. 15, 1988 with a final score of 8-6.
All-Time vs. Long Beach State
Tuesday's meeting marks the 12th game between the two teams in a series SCU leads 6-4-1.
Scouting Stanford
The Cardinal will face the Pacific Tigers on Monday before hosting the Broncos on Wednesday. Min (Brian) Moon has a team-best .389 batting average. Adam Gaylord is right behind him hitting .367, while Kellen Kiilsgaard has a team-best 17 RBIs and six home runs. The starter for Wednesday's game is unknown at the moment, but as a team Stanford has a 5.31 ERA.
Last Time vs. Stanford
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. Stanford
Wednesday's contest marks the 348th meeting of the two programs in a series that Stanford leads 180-160-7. Last season, the Cardinal went 3-1 against the Broncos.
On Deck
Santa Clara returns to West Coast Conference action this weekend against No. 29 San Diego. The series begins on Friday, Apr. 3 at 7 p.m. and continues on Saturday, Apr. 4 at 6 p.m. The series finale will be televised nationally on ESPNU on Sunday, Apr. 5 at 3:30 p.m.
