Posted: Mar 29, 2022
THE TEAMS
Santa Clara (14-18) at CSU Bakersfield (4-18)
GAME INFO
When: Thursday, March 31 at noon (DH1) and 2 p.m. (DH2)
Where: Roadrunner Softball Complex • Bakersfield, Calif.
Video: ESPN+ (DH1)
Where: Roadrunner Softball Complex • Bakersfield, Calif.
Video: ESPN+ (DH1)
NOTES
- Santa Clara travels to face CSU Bakersfield in a doubleheader on Thursday, playing their first game since March 20.
- The Broncos are 2-4 in true road games this season, winning at UC Davis (Feb. 11) and Grand Canyon (Feb. 18) while losing at Sacramento State (Feb. 12 & 13), San José State (Feb. 26) and UC Santa Barbara (March 6).
- Thursday's contests marks the fourth doubleheader played by the Broncos where they are 5-1 having swept Fresno State (Feb. 22) and Mount St. Mary's (March 1) and split against Idaho State (March 12). All three previous doubleheaders have come at home.
- After playing CSU Bakersfield, the Broncos will face Stanford on Tuesday, April 5 in the final tuneup before opening West Coast Conference play at Pacific (April 9-10).
- SCU currently has the third-best winning percentage among the six WCC schools this season at .438 (14-18), trailing BYU's .759 (22-7) and Loyola Marymount .657 (22-12).
- Among the league leaders (as of March 28):
- OF Ashley Trierweiler: first in hits (42); second in batting average (.389); second in stolen bases (12); tied for fifth in doubles (seven)
- INF Emma Bickford: first in doubles (11); seventh in batting average (.361)
- RHP Sage Hager: second in ERA (1.86); tied for third in complete games (five); tied for fifth in wins along with teammate Hannah Edwards (six)
- RHP Hannah Edwards: third in starts (13); tied for fifth in wins along with teammate Sage Hager (six)
- Hager has walked just five batters in 64 innings and is allowing a team-low .256 opponent's batting average.
- 2022 overall statistics entering the tournament.
- SCU, under third-year head coach Gina Carbonatto, entered the season picked to finish fourth in the West Coast Conference as voted on by the six conference head coaches.
- Santa Clara finished the 2021 campaign with an 8-20 record including 5-10 in WCC play.
- A full schedule is on the docket for the 2022 season. Among the 51 regular season games, 20 will be played at Santa Clara Softball Stadium, 18 true road games and 13 neutral site contests. The Broncos will play seven games against four teams – BYU, Fresno State, Iowa State and Stanford – that competed in the NCAA Tournament last season.
- The Broncos field an experienced squad with 15 returnees including 13 that played in 2021 and two that last played in 2020.
- Six newcomers dot the roster - Lauren Bryson, Abigail Charpentier, Sage Hager, Kelsi Rice, Morgan Salmon and Nina Taylor.
- The top three hitters from 2021 return - Ashley Trierweiler (program record .481 batting average), Emma Bickford (.329) and Allyson Ferreira (.282). Sammy Needham, who hit .394 in 2020 but did not play last season returns in 2022.
- Trierweiler and Bickford were named preseason All-WCC as vote on by the league's six head coaches.
- In the circle, the Broncos return all five pitchers from 2021 plus Hannah Edwards who last pitched in 2020 where she appeared in 11 games, going 3-6 with a 3.31 ERA.
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