May 14, 2009
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Santa Clara brings the 2009 regular-season to a close this weekend with a three-game series against West Coast Conference opponent Pepperdine and a single-game season finale against Cal Poly on Monday.
The Broncos and Waves open the series with a 3 p.m. start on Friday, May 15 at Eddy D. Field Stadium. The series continues with 1 p.m. first pitches on Saturday and Sunday. SCU and Cal Poly then battle on Monday, May 18 at 6 p.m. at Baggett Stadium.
Battle on the Mound
Friday • Nate Garcia (3.69 ERA, 7-4, 93 K) vs. Cole Cook (3.51 ERA, 7-3, 74 K)
Saturday • Thain Simon (6.30 ERA, 3-5, 51 K) vs. Matt Bywater (3.60 ERA, 5-1, 55 K)
Sunday • Alex Rivers (4.42 ERA, 5-4, 65 K) vs. Scott Alexander (4.31 ERA, 3-5, 57 K)
Monday • TBA vs. TBA
Follow The Broncos Online!
All three games at Pepperdine will feature live video and stats via www.pepperdinesports.com. In-game stats are available for free, while the live video feature costs $9.95 for a monthly subscription. Just click the "Wave Casts" link on the top of www.pepperdinesports.com. Monday's game at Cal Poly will feature live audio, video and stats via www.gopoly.com. Fans can access the links by visiting the baseball schedule page on www.gopoly.com.
Last Time Out
Santa Clara faced a tough setback Tuesday night against UC Davis. The Aggies pulled away with a 9-1 win to leave the season series tied 1-1. Senior Kyle Van Dusen scored the Broncos' lone run of the game. He was driven in by sophomore Chris Morton.
Bronco Watch
Santa Clara enters the weekend with a 19-30 overall record and a 6-12 WCC record. Junior Geoff Klein continues to lead the team with a .391 batting average. He also leads with 77 hits, 20 doubles, five home runs and 55 RBIs. Senior Matt Long has scored a team-leading 42 runs thus far and is second with 31 RBIs. On the mound, Garcia leads with a 7-4 record, 3.69 ERA and 93 strikeouts.
Scouting Pepperdine
The Waves enter the weekend with a 28-22 overall record and an even 9-9 WCC record. The WCC Championship series is not completely out of reach for the Waves. They need to sweep the Broncos this weekend, have Gonzaga sweep LMU at home and have Portland either sweep or take two of three from USF this weekend. Pepperdine recently defeated Cal Poly, 8-4, and won two of their three games against Portland. Colin Rooney and Nate Simon are among the team leaders for the Waves. Both are batting .320, while Rooney has 23 runs, five homers and 26 RBIs and Simon has 27 runs, seven homers and 47 RBIs.
Last Time vs. Pepperdine
Santa Clara and Pepperdine last met in the final weekend series of the 2008 season at Schott Stadium. The Waves wound up taking two of three from the Broncos to advance to the WCC Championships. SCU won the first game of the series, 6-3, with Garcia getting the win.
All-Time vs. Pepperdine
Friday's game marks the 141st meeting of the two programs in a series Pepperdine leads 84-54-2.
Scouting Cal Poly
The Mustangs will battle the Dirtbags of Long Beach State in Big West Conference action prior to hosting the Broncos on Monday. Cal Poly is currently ranked No. 14 by Rivals.com and No. 18 by Baseball America. Leading the team is Adam Buschini and Matt Jensen. Buschini is batting .409 with 42 runs, seven homers and 47 RBIs, while Jensen leads with 53 RBIs and nine home runs. Ryan Lee has scored a team-high 57 runs thus far. The potential starter for the Mustangs has yet to be announced, but as a team, Cal Poly owns a 5.84 ERA with Mark Devincenzi leads with a 3.75 ERA and 5-1 record in 27 relief appearances.
Last Time vs. Cal Poly
Santa Clara and Cal Poly last met on April 14, 2009 at Schott Stadium when the Broncos posted an 8-5 upset over the then-No. 18 Mustangs. Senior Brady Fuerst was perfect going 3-for-3 with three RBIs. RS Freshman Jason Westerberg earned his first collegiate win in relief.
All-Time vs. Cal Poly
Monday's game marks the 73rd meeting of the two programs in a series Santa Clara leads 38-34.
Long Named WCC Player of the Week
The senior centerfielder was named the West Coast Conference's Player of the Week; it was announced by the league Monday afternoon. It is the Los Altos native's first-ever career weekly accolade from the WCC. The senior led Santa Clara to a 3-1 week (May 4-10) with a non-conference midweek win over Stanford and a 2-1 series win against Saint Mary's over the weekend. For the week, Long went 7-for-16 (.438) with seven runs and three RBIs. He also collected a double and a home run.
Did You Know?
Assistant coach Mike Zirelli played for the Mustangs from 1996-99, establishing himself as one of the best collegiate pitchers ever to put on a Cal Poly uniform. He was an All-Big West performer and a freshman All-American. He also earned Player of the Decade honors from the University in 1999. Zirelli ranks second all-time in wins, second in innings pitched, second in strikeouts, fourth in total appearances and sixth in complete games. He also holds the record for most strikeouts in a single game since the Mustangs moved over to DI play in 1995.
In the WCC
Through all-games, the Broncos are tied for third in the conference with a .293 batting average, third with 118 doubles and third with 380 strikeouts. Individually, Klein continues to lead the WCC in batting average and is tied for second in doubles, third in RBIs, fifth in hits, seventh in slug% and eighth in ob%. Jon Karcich is second in ob% and is also tied for second in doubles, while Long is second in triples. Garcia also continues to lead the WCC in strikeouts, innings pitched and complete games. Rivers joined the rankings this week at No. 9 in strikeouts and tied for second in complete games. See page 6 of the notes for the complete list.
On the National Stage
As a team, Santa Clara is ranked in the top 100 in doubles per game (No. 22), doubles (No. 29), strikeouts per nine innings (No. 55), walks per nine innings (No. 70), sacrifice bunts (No. 77) and fielding percentage (No. 85). Individually, the Broncos have nine different players ranked in 24 categories. The highest rankings belong to Long (No. 14 - triples) and Garcia (No. 16 - strikeouts). Klein has climbed into the top-100 in hits (No. 69) and RBIs (No. 87). See page 6 of the notes for the complete list.
Going...Going...Gone!
Seniors Long and Fuerst became the most recent Broncos to go long. Both hit their last home runs on Friday at Saint Mary's. It was Fuerst's second straight game with a homer and his third of the season, while Long tied the team-leading five home runs. As a team, SCU has 23 home runs thus far.
Kalush, Klein Enter Record Books
Juniors Kalush and Klein recently entered the Bronco Record Books. Kalush is now tied for 10th all-time with eight saves, while Klein is tied for 10th in single-season doubles. He is also two RBIs shy of entering that single-season category as well.
SCU Record Books Watch
> Long is now tied for No. 2 all-time in triples (14)
> Long is now No. 3 all-time in hits (266)
> Long is now No. 3 all-time in total bases (390)
> Long is now No. 4 all-time in at bats (859)
> Long is now No. 4 all-time in runs (159)
> Long is tied for 7th in single-season triples (6)
> Long is now No. 9 all-time in walks (99)
> Long is now No. 9 in all-time extra base hits (72)
> Long is tied for 10th in single-season sac flies (5)
> Karcich is now tied for No. 6 in hit by pitch (25)
> Karcich is now tied for No. 10 all-time in career doubles (46)
> Karcich is now tied for No. 10 in single-season doubles (20)
> Klein is now tied for No. 10 in single-season doubles (20)
> Garcia is tied for No. 6 in single season hit batsmen (13)
> Garcia is tied for No. 8 all-time in hit batsmen (22)
> Garcia is now No. 8 all-time in career strikeouts (242)
> Kalush is now tied for No. 10 in all-time saves (8)
> Long 6 home runs away from entering the all-time list
> Karcich is 8 home runs away from entering the all-time list
> Brady Fuerst is 7 doubles away from entering the all-time list
> Fuerst is 2 doubles away from entering the single-season list
> Klein is 2 RBIs away from entering the single-season list
> Garcia is 4 starts away from entering the all-time list
