Baseball Drops Series Against Chicago

By Ryan Mahoney

Santa Clara continued its 13-game season-opening home stand last weekend, dropping two of three games to the University of Illinois, Chicago Flames in a three-game set. The Broncos lost the first game of the series Friday night before splitting a doubleheader Saturday.

"This is a team that played Texas A&M (University) last weekend, and shut that offense down," said Santa Clara Head Coach Dan O'Brien. "Our guys did a great job against them." 

Mike Couch took the mound for the Broncos to oppose UIC's Tomas Michelson on Friday night. Couch contributed seven innings, giving up four runs, three of which came on two UIC home runs. 

"As good of an outing as that was, he left the ball up in the zone and those home runs ended up being the difference in the ballgame," said O'Brien. "When he settled in and started relaxing and executing, he didn't get hit at all." 

The home runs were indeed the difference, as the Broncos could only manage three runs in the 5-3 loss. Santa Clara had RBIs from Drew Ozanne and Greg Harisis. 

In the third inning, freshman Kert Woods threw out a UIC runner at home from deep left field saving a run. "Kert's a stud; he's a heck of a player," said O'Brien. "He may not have the greatest arm in the world, but when he needs to make a play, he makes a play." 

The Bronco offense exploded on Saturday in a 10-3 win to take the first game of the doubleheader. Santa Clara's Chris Mendoza picked up the win in a game that saw three Broncos record multiple RBIs. Santa Clara broke an early 1-1 tie with a five-run bottom of the fifth. 

Looking for the series win in game three, Bronco bats were unable to keep up with UIC's, ultimately dropping the game 15-8.

The game opened with both teams scoring four runs in the first inning. The Flames continued to add on after that and never trailed in the contest. Reece Karalus picked up the loss for Santa Clara, surrendering the ball after just over an inning. Although the offense could not out do the Flames, several Broncos had solid nights at the plate, including Quinton Perry, who added his fourth home run of the season, and Justin Viele, who had a two-run, two-RBI night on three hits. 

"In regards to home runs, I've always been told that home runs are accidents," said Perry. "I try to go up to the plate and have the same approach with each at-bat. Things have been working out well early in the season, hopefully I can stay consistent with that."

The team began a two-game series against San Diego State University on Tuesday night with a comfortable 12-3 win. On Wednesday afternoon, Santa Clara lost 7-4. Their record now sits at 4-5.

Santa Clara will continue its long home stand with a three-game series against the University of Northern Colorado over the weekend before hosting perennial power Stanford University next week. 

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