Broncos Wheelin’ and Dealin’
Broncos play well on both sides of the ball
John Brussa
Sports Editor
April 11, 2019
Something must have been in the Powerade Tuesday night when the Broncos (7-23) stomped on Sacramento State in an 11-0 shutout.
Santa Clara’s offense came out swinging in the bottom of the first inning, cycling through 10 batters and scoring four runs. After holding the Hornets scoreless again in the top of the second, the Broncos knocked in three more runs during their next turn to bat and the score stood at 7-0.
Defensively, the Broncos were just as sharp. Starting pitcher Locke Bernhardt began the game striking out five of the first six batters he faced. First-year Bernhardt continued to dominate, finishing the night with 10 strikeouts and four hits over five innings despite having the bases loaded twice. The Broncos committed just one error compared to three by the Hornets.
In the fifth inning, Santa Clara tacked on another run before singles from Connor Henriques and Dawson Brigman brought in three more in the sixth, giving Santa Clara an 11-0 lead.
In the final four frames, firstyear Julian Tristan combined with juniors Alex Tisminezky and Brendan Ecklebarger to pitch four more shutout innings and seal the victory.
The Broncos’ 11 runs were a season-high and a good start to their nine-game homestand that began Tuesday. Up next, Santa Clara will host Pacific (16-15) for a three-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m.
Women’s Tennis
SANTA CLARA, Calif.—In the final home contest of their 2019 season last Sunday, Women’s Tennis hosted No. 38 and first place in the West Coast Conference San Diego (14-2, 5-0 WCC) on their home courts but fell short in a 4-2 loss.
Following San Diego wins on courts two and three, the Torero’s clinched the doubles point and jumped out to an early lead. Broncos’ sophomores Elvena Gevargis and Katya Tabachnik responded with victories in their singles matches to tie the teams up at 2-2 before San Diego edged out victories on courts one and six to win the day.
Santa Clara (5-10, 1-5 WCC) will play the remaining three games of regular season on the road.
On Saturday, the Broncos will head north to take on San Francisco (8-10, 1-5 WCC) at 1 p.m. before going south to face Loyola Marymount and Pepperdine next week.
Women’s Golf
MARICOPA, Ariz.—Following an impressive third-place finish at the Fresno State Classic that included the second and third best rounds in program history, Women’s Golf traveled to Arizona this week to compete in the Wyoming Cowgirl Classic that began Monday. In the past four seasons, the Broncos earned second place in the Cowgirl Classic twice, fueling their hunger to break that ceiling and finally take home a first-place trophy this year.
First-year Claire Choi and sophomore Sarah Busey both scored below par in the first 18 holes, thrusting Santa Clara— with a cumulative team round score of 289—into first place. In the second round, the Broncos were slightly less sharp and recorded a cumulative 299 to drop them two shots behind now-first-place University of Texas El Paso. Busey carded a 70 for the round—her fourth consecutive below-par round—and finished the day three-under.
On Tuesday—the final round of the tournament—the Broncos had their last chance to reclaim the top of the leaderboard.
Facing a two-shot deficit, Santa Clara recorded a solid team score of 296, but gained only one stroke on tournament-leader UTEP and tied for second place the third time in five seasons. It took 71 shots for Busey to finish the round, her fifth-straight below par.
Women’s Golf will wrap up the season in the three-day West Coast Conference Championship tournament beginning April 18. The tournament will be held at the Manito Golf and Country Club in Spokane, Wash.
Contact John Brussa at jbrussa@scu.edu or call (408) 554-4852.