Baseball heats up as conference schedule begins

By Nicholas Pinkerton

The Bronco baseball team is off to a hot start this season with wins over nationally ranked University of San Diego and Cal.

After being swept in a four-game series against UC Davis, the Broncos have gone 5-2. They are now 15-9 and 2-1 in West Coast Conference play. Their two conference victories came against No. 14 San Diego, and their only loss to the Toreros came in a 1-0 pitchers' duel.

Prior to this successful series, the team knocked off No. 11 Cal on a two-run home run by Matt Long in extra innings.

The players do not find their recent success surprising, despite defeating some of the nation's best teams.

"I know that coach has definitely embedded into our heads that we should believe in ourselves, that we can defeat teams like San Diego and Cal," said infielder Gabe Alcantar.

Throughout the season, the Broncos have found multiple ways to come out on top, their most obvious weapon being their consistent offense.

"We're really concerned about playing the game, not the opponent," said infielder Ryan Conan.

The Broncos are only .03 batting average points away (.308) from claiming the top batting average in the WCC. They also have the highest average home runs per game and doubles per game, and the second lowest strikeouts-per-game average.

Coach Mark O'Brien attributed the impressive offensive numbers to all players in the lineup.

"I think we have a pretty balanced lineup," he said. "These guys are constantly on each other, and they're competing against each other. They're continuing to try to get better every day, and I think that's the key to success."

Five of the nine batters in the starting lineup are hitting at least .300, six of them have multiple home runs and eight of them have batted in at least 15 runs.

Though having its own moments of success, the team's pitching has yet to find its consistency; the staff's earned run average currently ranks second to last in the conference.

Reliever Jeff Lombard has found that, despite the statistics, the pitching staff has delivered in situations when it was most needed.

"I think we've done a good job lately making pitches when we had to," he said.

In a wild game against San Diego last weekend, the Broncos went through three pitchers in the first six innings before handing the ball to freshman reliever and WCC Co-Pitcher of the Week Thain Simon. Simon pitched the remaining three innings, allowing only one hit and striking out four to earn his first save of the year.

"When I go up there, personally I know I can make a good pitch and the players behind me are going to help out," he said.

It's no doubt that the Broncos have prevailed at the plate, on the mound and in the field during their recent three-game win streak.

Regardless of their recent accomplishments, the players understand that three recent victories over ranked opponents cannot define their season; after all, there's plenty of baseball left to be played.

"We went through a rough stretch, and now we're going through a good stretch, but we're trying not to ride the wave," said Lombard.

The outcome of the Wednesday night match-up between the Broncos and the University of Pacific Tigers had not been decided at press time.

The Broncos will host Portland in a three-game series beginning on Friday at Schott Stadium; first pitch is at 7 p.m.

Contact Nicholas Pinkerton at (408) 551-1918 or npinkerton@scu.edu.