March Glows, April Woes

Santa Clara Men’s Baseball team looks to get back on track after a slow start to April

After an outstanding month of March in which Santa Clara won 11 of 16 games, the Broncos have gotten off to a lackluster start in April. In what looked like the flip of a switch, the Broncos have lost five out of seven April games, putting themselves in a four-game slump.

Their latest outing against the Arizona Sun Devils went south quickly. The Sun Devils were in control from the first to the ninth inning, jumping out to a quick 3-0 lead and scoring in seven of the nine innings, including a jaw-dropping ten runs in the ninth inning alone. Santa Clara allowed 22 hits and gave 12 walks in their worst loss of the season, losing 21-1.

The Broncos are 17-14 on the season with a 6-6 record in conference play, ranking them sixth in the West Coast Conference (WCC). They have been exceptional when playing on their home field, Stephen Schott Stadium, sporting a 10-3 record. On the road, the record has been a different story, as they have only managed to win seven of 18 games. On the year, the Broncos are averaging 5.5 runs/game, with 172 runs driven in and a team combined .268 batting average.

The WCC race has been tight this year. Gonzaga sits atop the conference, but many teams are trailing right behind as two games separate the second and ninth seeds.

Some notable standouts this year for the Broncos include juniors Coleman Brigman (.352), Micheal O’Hara (.327), and Eamonn Lance (.323). Coleman Brigman also leads the team with 25 RBIs and 27 runs overall. Unfortunately, he saw his 29-game on-base streak end on Monday as he failed to get on base against the Sun Devils.

On the mound, junior Nick Sando leads the team with 12 appearances on the season, accounting for 37 innings pitched, holding down opponents to a 1.46 ERA (#1 in th WCC), and achieving 54 strikeouts.

Last week, Santa Clara managed to sweep the weekly WCC awards as Nick Sando was named WCC pitcher of the week and Coleman Brigman earned the WCC player of the week.

The Broncos will continue their season in a series against conference rival Saint Mary’s. The second game of the series is expected to commence tonight, Friday April 15, at 6 P.M. at Schott Stadium.

Women’s Softball Seeks a Strong Turnaround as Conference Play Begins

The sluggish season continues for the Women’s Softball team, but they hope to turn it around

After a mediocre start, the Santa Clara Women's softball team looks to bounce back and end the season on a strong note. The team struggled in the month of March, as they only managed to win six of the 17 games they played.

In their latest outing, they managed to squirm a 4-3 victory against conference rival Pacific University to take the opening WCC series on Sunday, April 10.

The Broncos got off to a great start on Sunday, scoring three runs in the first two innings to take an early 3-0 lead. They then struggled to produce any runs over the next four innings. Pacific was able to pick up their slack in the third inning, scoring two runs to cut the lead to one. With the bases loaded and one out, Regan Dias came into the game as a reliever in the 6th and managed to control the damage, forcing two outs to close out the inning.

With the game knotted up at three in the seventh, Allyson Ferreira drove the go-ahead run with a single. Dias would pitch a 1-2-3 seventh inning to secure the victory for Santa Clara.

The Broncos are now 16-22 on the season (2-1 WCC). They've scored 144 runs in 38 matches to average 3.8 runs/game and combined for a .267 batting average as a team.

Some standouts so far this season include sophomores Ashley Trierweiler and Sage Hager. Trierweiler leads the team with 45 hits and a .388 batting average. San Mateo native Hager has also contributed significantly to the Broncos' season in the pitching rotation, starting 12 games and accounting for 66 innings pitched, with 1.8 ERA and 23 strikeouts on the year.

The Broncos will host conference rival Saint Mary's for their second WCC series of the season. The first game of the series is set to begin at noon on Saturday, April 23, at Santa Clara Softball Stadium.