Baseball falters against Saint Mary's
By Bruce Martinez
Santa Clara's baseball season came to an end last Friday when a 5-3 loss at Saint Mary's eliminated the team from postseason contention. The victory was the Gaels' third over the Broncos this conference season.
The squad took a 2-0 lead on senior outfielder Joey Gomes' sacrifice and junior first baseman Joe Diefenderfer's single in the top of the third inning. This lead was short lived, however, as the Broncos surrendered four runs in the bottom of the third.
The third inning aside, junior Matt Travis pitched an excellent game for the Broncos. He gave up seven hits and three walks while throwing a complete game. His chances for victory were hurt because the Broncos left nine men on base and his record fell to 5-4 on the season.
With postseason competition officially out of reach, the Broncos let it all hang out during game two of their three-game set with the Gaels. The Broncos jumped to a 5-0 lead after five innings before surrendering a run to the Gaels in the sixth. They then scored three more, including two on a Gomes double, his 31st of the season. The team cruised to an 11-1 victory from there.
Sophomore pitcher John Redmond went eight strong innings, giving up only eight hits. He also had six strikeouts and improved his season record to 6-6. Gomes went 4 for 6 on the day with two RBIs and three runs. His four hits gave him 96 on the season, putting him two short of the all-time Bronco record.
The third game of the series was rained out on Sunday afternoon, leaving the Broncos with a final record of 25-30 on the season, including a 15-14 record in conference.
Even though this was not an improvement on last season's 23-33 (17-13 in conference) record, hope is running high after Mark O'Brien's first season as head coach. The team fared well against top 25 competition this season and next year has a top ten recruiting class coming in. There is even talk of a new baseball stadium being built.
"There is a great spirit around the program right now, Coach O'Brien has really turned things around for the team," sophomore pitcher Pat McBride said. "Within a few years we should be a top 25 program again."