Mini-Bat Night Friday at Stephen Schott Stadium!

Posted: Apr 22, 2010

April 22, 2010

SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Bay Area rivals Santa Clara and St. Mary's will meet for the 256th time Friday night at 7 p.m. at Stephen Schott Stadium in Santa Clara. The first 400 fans Friday will receive a FREE official Bronco Mini-Bat as a souvenir.

PITCHING PROBABLES
FRI - RH Mark Anderson (2-3, 3.30 ERA) vs. RH Nate Garcia (2-7, 6.23 ERA)
SAT - RH Kyle Barraclough (4-3, 5.43 ERA) vs. RH Alex Rivers (3-5, 4.38 ERA)
SUN - RH Martin Agosta (2-3; 3.49 ERA) vs. RH Chris Mendoza (2-3; 4.95 ERA)

WEEKEND PROMOTIONS
**'Bronco Mini-Bat Night' - Friday, April 23 vs. St. Mary's
**Sunday, April 25 vs. St. Mary's --Postgame Autograph Day #2 = Meet the team after the game, run the bases = 'Sunday Post-Game Run the Bases' - all fans invited to run the bases following each Sunday game

SANTA CLARA
The Broncos have lost four straight and 8-of-10. After starting the season registering 10+ hits 19 times in non-conference play, SCU has done so just twice in eight WCC games. The SCU lineup is hitting .241 in WCC games compared to its .335 average against non-conference opponents. Tommy Medica continues to hit against everyone, owning five extra-base hits and a .345 average in eight league games. The schedule has the Broncos playing four games in four days at home, hosting St. Mary's Friday through Sunday and then hosting No. 22 Stanford Monday, April 26 at 6 p.m.

ST. MARY'S
The Gaels are looking to stay in the WCC title race after opening league play 2-4. SMC dropped 2-of-3 with San Francisco last weekend, winning 5-1 behind steady pitching from starter Kyle Barraclough (4-3; 5.43 ERA) who allowed just three hits in 7 2/3 innings in Game Two of that series. Five of SMC's six WCC games have been relatively low-scoring, with both teams combining for nine runs or less. Preseason All-American 1B Troy Channing (.299 BA) - the 2009 WCC `Freshman of the Year' - has hit 10 homeruns and leads the team with 32 RBI hitting third in the SMC batting order.

SCU OFFENSE
The Broncos still lead the WCC in hitting (.314 BA) despite batting .234 and being out-scored 79-32 in their last 10 games. 1B Curtis Wagner (.400 BA) owns a five-game hitting streak and ranks second in the league in batting average. Wagner is a strong candidate for academic All-America honors, having earned earning a 3.8 cum G.P.A. in SCU's Leavey School of Business. UT Tommy Medica (.374 BA) leads the team and ranks among the league's top 5 in hits (52), runs (34), RBI (37), doubles (13), total bases (88) and stolen bases (11). Medica has been terrific with RISP (.407 BA) and with runners on base (.386 BA). If SCU's offense returns to early-season form the Broncos can be hard to beat. SCU has six everyday players hitting above .300 and four players in the lineup own 10 or more doubles.

SCU PITCHING
Bronco ace RH Nate Garcia (2-7, 6.23 ERA) is leading the WCC in strikeouts (70) for the second straight season. Garcia has moved into fourth place in Santa Clara history with 315 career strikeouts. The two-time `Opening Day' starter and All-WCC First Team honoree has lost his last three starts, receiving just four runs of support in 22-plus innings. RH Alex Rivers (3-5, 4.38 ERA) allowed SCU its lone WCC win, shutting out Pepperdine April 10 en route to being named a WCC `Pitcher of the Week.' Rivers, also a senior, has fanned 53 in 61 2/3 innings this season, allowing 74 hits. Freshman starter RH Chris Mendoza (2-3; 4.95 ERA) has been a nice addition to the rotation. The San Jose native and 2009 graduate of Branham High School started the season 2-0 with wins over Southern Illinois and San Diego State.

AROUND THE HORN PRIZES
Each game a series of 'Lucky Number Giveaways' offer fans who buy a program for $1 a chance to win ... Tony and Alba's Pizza ... Applebee's Gift Certificates ... Lunardi's Grocery Bag Full of Goodies ... FREE dinner's from Smoke Eaters ... various food prizes from Bronco Concessions.

WCC STANDINGS | WCC LEAGUE LEADERS
San Diego 6-0/20-15
Portland 8-1/24-9
San Francisco 3-2/20-17
Pepperdine 3-2/13-19
Gonzaga 2-3/13-24
Saint Mary's 2-4/11-20-1
Santa Clara 1-7/14-19
Loyola Marymount 0-6/16-18

WCC GAMES THIS WEEKEND
St. Mary's @ Santa Clara (3)
San Francisco @ LMU (3)
Portland @ Pepperdine (3)
Gonzaga @ San Diego (3)