Baseball faces stiff competition in WCC play

By Tom Schreier

Backed by pitcher Alex Rivers' complete game shutout on Saturday, Santa Clara won its first conference game to move to 1-4 in conference and 14-15 overall after losing the series opener to Pepperdine and being swept by WCC rival Portland.

Rivers' position as the Saturday starter looked to be in jeopardy after giving up seven runs in four innings in game two against Portland. The senior, who is expected to lead a roster full of underclassmen pitchers, was rattled early in the game.

"Alex didn't do a very good job today of overcoming some things," said Pitching Coach Mike Zirelli. "(During) one inning we had strike three in the dirt and we couldn't make the play at first base. As a pitcher (you say) 'So what? I did my job.' and you got to get right back on the bump and get that next guy out. Alex was unable to overcome that stuff today."

During Tuesday games, the Broncos typically unload the bullpen in order for Zirelli to evaluate his pitching staff.

Rivers made an appearance in the fourth inning and rebounded from his previous start, striking out the first two batters he faced and causing a ground out to go one-two-three in the inning.

"Rivers took a huge jump from this past weekend (when) he struggled. He really got after it," said Zirelli of his pitcher. "Alex can't worry about (conserving) energy or pitch count or any of that stuff. Attack and let her rip."

That's exactly what Rivers did four days later in his start against Pepperdine. Rivers threw a three-hit, complete game shutout. He fanned nine batters and retired ten straight at one point in the game. In recognition of his effort, Rivers was named WCC Player of the Week for the second time in his four years at Santa Clara.

"I came out of the pen on Tuesday and I knew I was going to throw everything hard and be aggressive with everything," Rivers said of his performance, which helped Santa Clara win its first conference home game in two years. "(I) went out there with the same mentality today (as I had) out of the bullpen."

Both Curtis Wagner and Tommy Medica produced on offense throughout the series and currently stand at second and third in batting average in the WCC, respectively.

Medica was the most consistent player throughout the series, with a 21-game hitting streak this season until the final game against Pepperdine.

"It would have been nice to keep that going, but we got the win and that's all that really matters," Medica said, putting the hitting streak into perspective.

In Portland's game three route, Medica turned on an Owen Jones' fastball after the pitcher had retired the first eight Santa Clara batters and pitched 16 scoreless innings. The ball was destined for the stars had one of the stadium lights near centerfield not gotten in the way.

Nate Garcia pitched well in his starts against Portland and Pepperdine but was unable to leave either game with a win. The two pitchers Garcia faced, Pepperdine's Zach Varce, who currently holds a 2.60 ERA, and Portland's Matt Bywater, who is allowing only 1.7 runs per game, sit atop the WCC in ERA.

In the first game of the series, Garcia was the victim of poor fielding when Pat Terry, who typically is the designated hitter and walked on to the team as a bullpen catcher three years ago, lost sight of two routine fly balls.

"Nate did his job today, unfortunately I didn't," said Terry. "(I) just got to flush it and move on."

Against Pepperdine, Garcia went eight innings and allowed only two hits. In the eighth inning, down 3-0 in the count with only one out, Garcia fought back to strike out the next two batters. The night ended in disappointment when the team could not capitalize on his efforts in the ninth and freshmen pitchers Brock Simon and Rhett Nelson gave up six runs in the final inning.

"If there's a kid you want in your program to model somebody after it's Nate Garcia," Head Coach Mark O'Brien said of his pitcher, who aspires to be a part of professional baseball after college. "I have the utmost respect for him and not only has he pitched well at our level, but he's going to be successful at the next level too."

Garcia, who leads the WCC in strikeouts (64), became only the fifth player in Santa Clara history to record 300 strikeouts in his collegiate career against Pepperdine. His next start will take place at Stephen Schott Stadium on Friday, April 23 at 7:00 p.m. against Saint Mary's.

Contact Tom Schreier at tschreier@scu.edu or (408) 551-1918.