Baseball drops two of three in Hawaii
By MATHEW FISCHER
The Broncos returned home Monday from a difficult trip to Hawaii. After leaving Thursday, full of hope and anticipation that the trip would be a jumping off point for a strong season, the Broncos return home no better off than when they left.
The series opened Friday night with a 9-5 loss at Rainbow Stadium. Hawaii starter Jamie Aloy threw 7 2/3 innings, giving up all five Bronco runs to pick up his first victory of the season.
Santa Clara freshman Joe Deifenderfer suffered through his second consecutive tough outing, giving up nine runs in the first three innings before giving way to the Bronco bullpen. The bullpen did a great job, holding the Rainbows scoreless over their final five at-bats.
The Bronco offense also had a difficult day, despite freshman Jack Headley's inside-the-park homerun in the second inning.
Game two of the series was a true display of the pervasive offense that permeates college baseball and proved once again that in the college game, no lead is safe.
In the 12-11 win, four Broncos had multi-hit games: junior Matt Queen, junior Mike Balestreri, freshman Travis Hinton and junior Chris Jakubauskas. The Broncos scored one in the first and two in the second to take a 3-2 lead after two innings. After falling behind 4-3 after three, the Broncos scored four in the top of the fifth to regain the lead.
After the Rainbows cut the lead to 7-5 through seven, the Broncos sent eight men to the plate and scored four runs in the top of the eighth. The big blow in the inning came on Hinton's bases-clearing 3-run double. The Broncos' second big inning of the game gave them a commanding 11-6 lead through 8 innings.
Hawaii would not die and scored three in the eighth and two in the ninth off of Bronco senior hurlers Mike Detrick, Dave Battagin and Brian Sparr.
However, Santa Clara rose to the challenge and scored in the tenth to take the lead. Again, it was Headley with the big hit, this time a single to center scoring sophomore Joey Gomes for what turned out to be the game winning run.
Junior Dave Mallen came on and threw a scoreless inning to pick up his first save of the season. In the rubber game of the three game series, the Broncos were routed 13-2. Santa Clara's freshman starter, Matt Travis, suffered through his toughest outing of the season, giving up 10 runs in six innings of work. Travis was followed to the hill by sophomore Mike Mooney, who gave up the last two Hawaii runs.
While the Broncos struggled on the mound and in the field, Hawaii starter Rich Snider was cruising. Snider through 8 2/3 innings, allowing four hits and two runs before giving way to Manuel Olivera who got the last out to end the series.
The Bronco bats struggled in the finale, as only one Santa Clara batter recorded more than two hits. Snider took a 1-hitter into the ninth before giving up singles to senior Elliot Wheeler and Queen and a bases-clearing triple to Headley.
The Broncos will look to rebound from their tough Hawaiian weekend when they venture to Las Vegas this weekend.
They will play four games in as many days against top competition as they look to jump start their season in the UNLV Tournament.