May 18, 2007
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SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara baseball team will wrap up the 2007 season and honor it's four graduating seniors this weekend, as the team hosts the Sacramento State Hornets Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. at Stephen Schott Stadium. Carl Bacon, Kevin Drever, Kyle Hartz, and David Hoffmire will all be recognized for their contributions to Bronco Baseball.
About the Broncos
Santa Clara (25-29, 9-12 WCC) snapped its five-game losing streak Sunday afternoon, salvaging its series against No. 6 San Diego with a 6-5 win. The Broncos started the week with a 9-8 loss in Reno against Nevada, then dropped the first two games against the Toreros, 3-1, and then 8-7 in 10 innings. Five Broncos hit over .300 against the Toreros over the weekend, with Jon Karcich (.556), Evan LeBlanc (.545), and Carl Bacon (.429), who drove in Sunday's game-winning run with a two-out, ninth-inning double, leading the way at the plate. On Tuesday, though, the Broncos couldn't keep pace with the Stanford offense, letting a 3-3 game get away from them in falling 14-4 to the Cardinal at Stephen Schott Stadium.
About Sacramento State
Sacramento State (17-36) has won six of its last 10 games, despite dropping two of three to Northern Colorado this past weekend, and a 10-1 loss to UC Davis. This upcoming weekend's two-game series will be the first meetings of the year between th Hornets and Broncos. The Hornets, of the Big Sky Conference, are led offensively by Gabe Jocobo's .357 average, 12 doubles, 12 home runs, and 41 RBIs, while Montana Dye has hit seven homers and driven in 36 runs as well. On the hill, Alvaro Orozco is 5-5 with a 4.68 ERA.
Coming Through In the Clutch
Senior designated hitter Carl Bacon provided another key moment in his career year this past Sunday, blasting a two-out, ninth-inning double off the right-centerfield fence that drove in the game-winning run in SCU's 6-5 win over No. 6 San Diego. With the win, Santa Clara also clinched the Commissioner's Cup, given annually to the WCC's most successful athletic institution, based on a points system that rates each member school's conference finish in the 13 WCC-sponsored sports. Bacon, who on the year is batting .333 with 68 hits, including 14 doubles, a homer, and 32 RBIs, was also named to the CoSIDA All-District VIII Academic First Team last week.
Solid Efforts
The Santa Clara starting pitchers made strong showings for themselves over the weekend against the No. 6 team in the nation in San Diego. Nate Garcia tossed six innings in which he struck out three batters and allowed only two earned runs, Matt Wickswat struck out seven and allowed only four runs in seven innings on Saturday, while Donald Brandt gave up only four runs in five-plus innings on Sunday. The trio also helped in holding USD's big bats, Shane Buschini (0-for-8, one RBI) and Jordan Abruzzo (2-for-12, 0 RBIs) to ineffective weekends.
It's Clobberin' Time!
Sophomore transfer Evan LeBlanc put together a big week at the plate, batting .563 (9-for-16) with a double and three runs scored over SCU's four games. He had three hits in Reno Tuesday, before turning in a six-hit effort against San Diego over the weekend, including a 4-for-5 performance on Saturday.
Got bat, Got Glove
Another Bronco who had a strong series at the plate against sixth-ranked San Diego was freshman shortstop Jon Karcich, who batted .556 (5-for-9) with three doubles against the Toreros, and has continued to provide fine defense at the shortstop position in 2007. Karcich also hit his fourth home run of the season Tuesday night against Stanford.
Going Yard
Junior third baseman and All-America candidate Gabe Alcantar hit his third home run of the season in Sunday's 6-5 win over San Diego. For the season, Alcantar raised his average to .337 and a team-leading 15 doubles by batting .385 (5-for-13) with three RBIs over the weekend against the Toreros.
Reliable Out Of the 'Pen
Two of Santa Clara's reliable hurlers in the bullpen have been a pair of freshmen in Steve Kalush and Alex Rivers. Both have recently gained an edge on the mound and have been in fine form, with Kalush striking out a pair of Satnford hitters over two scoreless innings on Tuesday, and Rivers holding off the powerful San Diego offense last Sunday for an inning and a third and earning his second win of the season.
SCU Offers Live Web Coverage of Home Games
When the Santa Clara baseball program moved into Stephen Schott Stadium, the multimedia coverage on www.santaclarabroncos.com increased. Bronco fans can listen to the WCC action live on Broncos All-Access, and as always, all Bronco baseball games will also be covered on Gametracker.
2007 Freshman Class Noted Among the Nation's Best
The Santa Clara University baseball program received an accolade from the Collegiate Baseball newspaper as the Broncos' 2006 recruiting class was named on of the Top-40 classes in the nation, coming in at No. 28, tops among West Coast Conference schools. The members of this class, who are currently in their first year on the Mission Campus, will look this spring to help lead the squad to its first WCC title since 1997.
Of the freshman class in 2007, Nathan Garcia (Bellarmine College Prep), Patrick Glenn (Amador Valley HS), Matthew Hiserman (Capistrano Valley HS), Steven Kalush (Aragon HS), Jon Karcich (Serra HS), Geoffrey Klein (Ocean View HS), Tommy Medica (Bellarmine College Prep), Alex Rivers (Tokay HS) and Dylan Slocum (Paloma Valley HS) make up the California contingent. Tayler Thomas (Salpointe Catholic HS) hails from Arizona and Jeremy Zink (Garfield HS) will come to the Mission Campus from the state of Washington.
Four Broncos Named to All-WCC 40th Anniversary Team
The West Coast Conference announced its 40th Anniversary Baseball Team in early January, and four Broncos were named to the 40-man squad. LHP Rich Troedson (1969-72), catcher Troy Buckley (1987-89), RHP Bob Pailthorpe (1992-95), and outfielder Mike Frank (1994-97) were all honored for their achievements on the diamond.
SCU Baseball Picked to Finish Sixth in WCC Preseason Poll
The Santa Clara baseball team was selected to finished sixth in the West Coast Conference in the 2007 WCC preseason poll, as selected by the conference coaches. The Broncos were picked to finished behind Pepperdine, San Diego, San Francisco, LMU and Gonzaga. Santa Clara claimed the sixth position with 18 total points.