Baseball Swept in Portland

By Ryan Mahoney

 The West Coast Conference series resulted in a three-game sweep of the Broncos. The unfortunate result was the third straight sweep of the Broncos, leaving their record at 8-18 overall, winless in the WCC at 0-6.

The Broncos had opened their WCC season at Pepperdine University, where they were swept by the Waves. That series was preceded by another sweep at the hands of non-conference opponent Michigan State University, the final non-conference full series of the year.

The team has now lost 10 straight, dating back to the March 12 loss to California at Stephen Schott Stadium. The Broncos did however come out swinging and nearly took two of the games against Portland.

In the series opener against the Pilots, the Broncos narrowly missed getting back into the win column. It took an extra inning for the Pilots to finally put away the Broncos by a final score of 2-1. The Broncos struck first when Justin Viele, who went 2-4 on the day, scored on a wild pitch after hitting a single. Portland evened the score in the bottom of the fourth. Neither team could untie the score until extra innings, when a bases-loaded walk ended the game.

The second game of the series was the second part of a double header. With the momentum of a walk-off win fresh in their mind, the Pilots came out swinging, taking the second game 10-3. Freshman Jake Steffens took the mound for the Broncos and picked up the loss. He went 3.2 innings and gave up four runs on five hits. Although the Broncos led 2-1 in the top of the fourth, the Pilots responded with three runs in the bottom of that inning and never relinquished the lead.

The series finale mirrored the series opener, in that the Broncos ended up on the wrong side of another tight game. Another Bronco freshman, Reece Karalus, started the game on the mound. He would go five innings, giving up six runs on nine hits. On the offensive side, Justin Viele once again had a solid day at the plate, going 2-4 with two runs and a walk. Viele doubled in the first inning and scored on a Greg Harisis RBI single, giving the Broncos a 1-0 lead.

After four runs came across for Portland, the Broncos added two runs in the tops of the fourth and seventh, as well as a single run in the top of the fifth. The Pilots countered with two single run innings of their own to bring the score to 6-6 as the teams entered the eighth inning. Though the Broncos failed to score in the top of the inning, the Pilots encountered no such problem in the bottom. Brian Frattali scored on an RBI single by Ben Grubb, bringing the score to 7-6, where it remained for the rest of the game. The game sealed the third consecutive sweep that the Broncos have endured on this 10-game losing streak.

Santa Clara returns home to Stephen Schott Stadium to take on the Brigham Young University Cougars in a three-game series starting April 4 at 6 p.m. The Cougars, who play a very challenging schedule, are 14-14 overall, with a 2-4 record in WCC play. Though the Cougars will be tough, the Broncos have fared better at home than on the road this season, and the confines of Schott could help the Broncos end their skid.

Contact Ryan Mahoney at rmahoney@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.