Posted: Apr 25, 2023
THE TEAMS
Santa Clara (21-21) at San José State (21-24)
GAME INFO
vs San José State
When: Wednesday, April 26 at 5 p.m. PT
Where: Spartan Softball Stadium • San Jose, Calif.
NOTES
Santa Clara.....
- Heads to San José State for a midweek game on Wednesday.
- Is coming off a weekend sweep of Pacific at home. It was the first sweep of a West Coast Conference opponent since 2019 when the Broncos won all three games at San Diego.
- Has won three games in a row after dropping seven in a row to get back to a .500 record (21-21).
- Has back-to-back seasons with 20 or more wins since 2005 and 2006.
- Ashley Trierweiler leads all Division I hitters with a .525 batting average and is second with a .626 on-base percentage.
- Trierweiler was named WCC Player of the Week for the second time season on Monday.
- Trierweiler's Player of the Week honors is the fifth WCC Weekly Honors for the Broncos this season. Other honoree include: Sage Hager on April 10, Ashley Trierweiler on April 3, Emma Bickford on March 20 and Lauren LaHood on February 27.
- Was scheduled to play five games at a tournament in Idaho State during the weekend of March 17-19 but it was canceled due to extended winter conditions in Pocatello, Idaho. As a result, the Broncos will play 49 games this season instead of the originally scheduled 53.
- Has a slashline of .291/.389/.405 with 219 runs scored (5.2 runs per game) this spring.
- The 21 home runs hit this season is 13 more than they hit all last season. It is the most home runs in a season since hitting 21 in 2014.
- Ashley Trierweiler leads the WCC in hitting with a .525 batting average, a .626 on-base percentage and an .825 slugging percentage. She also leads the league in hits (63), doubles (13), runs (48), walks (33), and stolen bases (T1 with 14). She is tied for second in home runs (7) behind LMU's Morgan DeBord who has eight.
- Trierweiler currently has successfully reached base in 36-straight games and has a hit in 30 of the last 32 games including a 21-game hit streak that was snapped against Nevada (April 5) in the second game of the doubleheader.
- Sammy Needham had her 24-game streak of successfully reaching base snapped against Dartmouth (March 15).
- In the circle, Santa Clara has a 3.74 ERA.
- Sage Hager tops the team with nine wins and a 3.18 ERA.
- Hager had a seven-game win streak until losing to BYU on April 8.
LEAGUE LEADERS (as of April 25)
- Trierweiler (.525) leads the nation (Division I) in batting average, .001 ahead of Wichita State's Sydney McKinney (.524).
- Trierweiler (.626) is second in the nation in on-base percentage behind Kentucky's Erin Coffel (.628).
- Needham (.321) is sixth in the West Coast Conference in hitting and Morgan Salmon is 11th (.303).
- Trierweiler (seven) and Morgan Salmon (five) are tied for second and tied for sixth in the WCC in home runs.
- Five Broncos occupy the top 11 RBI producers in the WCC - 1. Morgan Salmon (31 RBIs), 3. Trierweiler (29), T7. Sammy Needham (24), 10. Emma Bickford (22), 11. Lauren LaHood (21)
- Trierweiler (14 SBs) and Lauren LaHood (14) are tied atop the league lead in stolen bases. Bailey McLaughlin is tied for fourth with 12.
- Bickford is the second toughest batter to strikeout in the WCC, fanning once every 24.2 at-bats. (five strikeouts in 121 at-bats), a mark that's 28th in the nation.
- Sage Hager is tied for third in the WCC in wins with nine and Hannah Edwards is fifth with six.
- Hager is eighth in the conference with a 3.18 ERA and Edwards is tenth with a 3.36 ERA.
WCC Preseason Poll / Coaching Staff
- SCU, under fourth-year head coach Gina Carbonatto, enters the season picked to finish fourth in the West Coast Conference as voted on by the six conference head coaches.
- Last season, the Broncos finished third with a 7-8 conference record, the second highest conference victory total since 2006. The 21-30 overall record was the highest win total since also the 2006 campaign when they went 24-34.
- Carbonatto has served as the assistant coach for Great Britain's Under-22 women's softball team since 2018.
- Last summer Carbonatto coached Great Britain's U-22 that competed in the European Under-22 Women's Fastpitch Championship in Kunovice, Czech Republic.
- Bronco players Cameron McGinnis and Morgan Salmon were selected to play on Great Britain U-22 team earning two of the 13 roster spots.
- On Carbonatto's SCU staff are pitching coach Jen Deering, who is also in her fourth season, hitting coach Kristi Villar who joined the Broncos from South Dakota State last July and graduate assistant Montana Dixon in her second season.
- For the upcoming season, Carbonatto will be the third base coach and Deering the first base coach.
2023 Roster
- The 21 player roster has 14 returnees including the top six hitters (by batting average) and top three pitchers.
- The 14 returnees account for 311 of the 341 hits and 20 of the 21 wins in 2022.
- Seven newcomers, all from the prep ranks, dot the roster.
- All but one player hails from California. The lone out of stater, Emma Bickford, is from Sammamish, Washington.
- Breakdown by Class:
- Graduate (3): Emma Bickford, Sammy Needham, Allyson Ferreira
- Seniors (2): Regan Dias, Lauren LaHood (RS)
- Juniors (4): Cameron McGinnis, Bailey McLaughlin, Ella Romero, Ashley Trierweiler (RS)
- Sophomores (5): Lauren Bryson, Abigail Charpentier, Sage Hager, Hannah Edwards (RS), Morgan Salmon
- Freshmen (7): Robynn Balmediano, Leiora Davidson, Hazyl Gray, Jacqueline Lemus, Marie Martorella, Mariah Montalvo, Bethany Shih.
All-West Coast Conference Honors
- Three Broncos - Emma Bickford, Hannah Edwards and Ashley Trierweiler - were named preseason All-WCC.
- All five Broncos who were named All-WCC last season return - First Team: Trierweiler; Second Team: Edwards and Lauren LaHood; Honorable Mention: Sage Hager and Sammy Needham
SCHEDULE
Santa Clara was originally scheduled to play a total of 53 games this spring including 25 home games and face two school that qualified for the 2022 NCAA Tournament. With the recent schedule updates, they will now play 49 total games.
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