Baseball's Struggles Continue

By Ryan Mahoney

When T.J. Braff grounded out to end the 10th inning, it became official; the Santa Clara baseball team had been swept by their fourth consecutive West Coast Conference opponent. 

The Broncos had returned to Stephen Schott Stadium in hopes of ending an 11-game slide against WCC opponents, but ended up watching three consecutive extra-inning games get away from them against the visiting University of San Francisco Dons. 

"It was a pretty wild series," said junior infielder Greg Harisis. "To go extra innings all three games and come up short just by a little all three times. We really battled as a team the whole way through."

Still, the Broncos are showing resilience, even if the results haven't been illustrated such. This team has come a long way since a 19-4 loss to Pepperdine University on the opening weekend of WCC play. 

"We're still working on our consistency as a team, but we've started to compete more and cleaning up the things that were causing scores like that, early on, and it's encouraging," Harisis added.

The first game of the series saw Reece Karalus take the mound for the Broncos. The freshman has seen a lot of action this season, and he had a solid outing, allowing two runs on five hits across 6.1 innings. Karalus would pick up a no-decision, as would USF starter Abe Bobb, who struck out four Broncos and allowed two runs across 7.1 innings. 

The Broncos struck first in the bottom of the second, when Kyle DeMerritt, who had an excellent weekend, knocked an RBI single through the infield to score Matt Ozanne. DeMerritt would add another run when USF third baseman Bob Cruikshank made an errant throw to first. 

USF tied the game up with runs in the top of the fourth and sixth innings. 

The Dons broke the tie in the top of the 12th with two runs. DeMerritt's strong game continued in the bottom of the 12th, when he doubled and then scored on Stephen Takahashi's ground out, but the single run could not extend the game, and the Broncos lost the series opener 4-3.

Santa Clara's Powell Fansler lasted only four innings in which he gave up two runs. T.J. Braff had a home run among his four hits on the evening, and freshman Ben Wright made his Santa Clara debut, recording his first collegiate hit in the seventh. Kert Woods came in to pinch run for Wright, and scored on a Justin Viele single, which tied the game at three at the time.

The Dons struck again with two runs in extras, this time in the 13th inning and went on to win the game 5-3.

The Broncos looked to the series finale to try to avoid the sweep and notch that first win against a conference foe. DeMerritt kept up his torrid offense, adding a home run among his three hits on the day. 

"I'm excited for (DeMerritt)," Head Coach Dan O'Brien said. "What's great is that, as good as his freshman year was, he's really just coming into his own as a ballplayer. Keep an eye on him as he continues to mature."

Though DeMerritt had a strong day at the plate, the Bronco offense was, for the third straight day, narrowly edged by the Dons. The 5-5 tie was broken in the first extra frame by a Josh Miller double that scored both Zachary Turner and Bradley Zimmer.

The Broncos mustered some energy in the bottom of the 10th, with Viele and Harisis getting on base, but nothing came of the rally. 

O'Brien has seen a lot of positives for his young players, like pitchers Karalus and Medeiros, as well as position players like Woods and Wright. 

"The experience our freshmen are getting this season is invaluable. You can't teach experience," said O'Brien. "You can even argue that the adversity we're facing adds more value to their experience. It will make them stronger mentally and hungry for success as they mature."

The team will continue to try and get their first conference win this weekend at home when the University of San Diego pays a visit.