Bronco Boys Back to the Big Dance
After 26 years, men’s baseball advances to the postseason NCAA tournament
The last time the Santa Clara baseball team made it to the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) tournament, none of the players had even been born yet. But all streaks must come to an end, and the #BroncoBoys finally broke through after winning the West Coast Conference (WCC) tournament in Las Vegas to advance. Santa Clara’s 35 wins is the most for the program since 1997, when they had 41 wins and earned their last NCAA tournament berth.
While in Sin City, the Broncos outscored Gonzaga, Portland and St. Mary’s by a whopping 34 runs (42 runs to their combined eight). They hit their stride this season, as they’ve also won 17 of their past 20 games and have broken numerous program records. According to Santa Clara Athletics, the 2022-2023 team hit the most home runs in program history with 72 this season, have the highest slugging percentage ever at .491 and have the most runs and hits during a season since 2010. Santa Clara is raking and will look to make some noise as they head off into the regional.
On May 29, Santa Clara was seeded into the Fayetteville Regional, where they will play host to number three overall seed University of Arkansas in their first tournament game on Friday, June 2. They are joined by Texas Christian University and the University of Arizona in Arkansas, where the Broncos will need to win three or four games to avoid going home in the double-elimination format.
During the selection show on Monday, senior Michael O’Hara expressed his appreciation for the opportunity, but acknowledges there’s more work to be done.
“It’s the day you dream of since you’re a little man,” he said. “These boys have been working their tail off night and day since September. Trust in your boys, man. Trust in the work that we put in because we know there’s not a team that prepares like we do.”
Despite finishing third during the regular season in the WCC, the Broncos stats were top of the charts. They boasted the best in both earned run average and walks and hits per inning from the pitching side. They also lead the conference on-base percentage and came in second in batting average, hits and slugging percentage.
Pitchers such as Cole Kitchen, Blake Hammond, Skylar Hales, Brandon Gomez and Cade Pilchard have been the cornerstones of the pitching rotation while Efrain Manzo, Robert Hipwell, Dawson Brigman, Coleman Brigman and O’Hara have been stellar at the plate this season.
This team has made its mark in Santa Clara’s history. Becoming the first team to make the postseason in 26 years is no feat to overlook.
“That’s all it is, just a little bit of work and it’s finally paying off,” O’Hara said. “We are getting our opportunity to show on the national stage what the Bronco Boys are all about, so we’re fired up.”