Baseball kicks off season at home
By Philip Keck
This Friday Santa Clara Baseball begins the year with a three game series against one of the nation's top teams: the Fresno State Bulldogs.
The series harkens back to last year's game in Fresno in which the Broncos and Bulldogs battled it out for 16 innings, finally ending with the Broncos on the low end of an 11-10 score. Fresno State has won seven of the previous eight series against the Broncos.
In a coach's poll, the Broncos were slated to end sixth in the West Coast Conference, making them the underdogs in the opening series.
"Hopefully we can surprise some people this year," Coach Mark O'Brien said. "The key for us will be taking each game one at a time."
O'Brien, Stanford's first-base coach last yeark, will coach his first Bronco game as Head Coach this Friday. O'Brien is confident about the Broncos because of excellent progress made in the fall.
"I thought we had an outstanding fall," O'Brien said. "We got better as the fall went on which is one of the key things you look for heading into the spring season so you can build upon that and be even more prepared for the season."
O'Brien brings to Santa Clara a philosophy of hustle and grit, an attitude he wants his players to have. This attitude is reflected in his wearing number 14 when he played ball, a gesture of respect to his favorite player, Pete "Charlie Hustle" Rose.
"I admired the way he played, although maybe not off the field," O'Brien said. "I admired his mental toughness. That's the attitude my players at Santa Clara will take."
Mental toughness is what he feels will get the team beyond the intimidation of the Bulldogs. The Bulldogs finished last season with a 41-25 overall record and retained their top offensive weapon: sophomore infielder Casey McGhee who hit .324 last year with 50 RBIs. Also returning with McGhee are seven other starters.
The duel on the diamond begins this Friday at 3 p.m. with Joe Diefenderfer pitching against Bob Runyon. For game two on Saturday at 1 p.m. Kellan McConnell gets the ball for Santa Clara versus Fresno State's Zach Minor.
The finale of the series on Sunday at 1 p.m. sees the Bronco John Redmond toeing the rubber against Bulldog Francisco Nieves. All games will be at Buck Shaw Stadium.