Bronco briefs
BASEBALL
Santa Clara 15, CSUMB 2
The Bronco bats came out swinging last Wednesday against CSU Monterey Bay in Santa Clara's final game before West Coast Conference play. Senior catcher Kris Watts hit a grand slam off the Otters' Ray Nunez in the first inning. In the fifth inning, with the Broncos already up by ten runs, senior Eric Newton homered for the team-leading sixth time this season to drive in sophomore Gabriel Alcantar. Both Watts and freshman Brady Fuerst had five RBIs in the offensive onslaught. Freshman Matt Wickswat won his fifth decision of the year and lowered his ERA to 2.79.
San Francisco 6, Santa Clara 2
Santa Clara 4, San Francisco 3
The two conference rivals split a doubleheader on Saturday afternoon. The Dons nabbed the first win and the Broncos edged out San Francisco for the second. Dons pitcher Scott Cousins threw a complete game against the Broncos, who suffered early setbacks and found themselves down five runs after the sixth inning. Santa Clara tied the Dons at a run apiece in the second inning when Fuerst drove in Newton for the score. Even with Newton's seventh home run of the year in the bottom of the sixth, the Broncos could not dig themselves out of the hole. Things went more smoothly in the second game when Fuerst singled in an RBI and later beat a double play at second that allowed freshman Matt Long to score. The Dons tied the game at three in the seventh to give the Broncos a scare, but in the ninth, Santa Clara loaded the bases and Alcantar walked, which forced Fuerst in and clinched the victory.
San Francisco 6, Santa Clara 2
The Broncos jumped out to an early lead on Sunday in the bottom of the first as senior Dustin Realini drove in junior Kevin Drever from second with a two-out single. Matt Wickswat started for Santa Clara and threw five and a third innings, giving up no runs and only three hits. However, the Dons fought back against the Bronco bullpen and scored all six of their runs in the last three innings of play. Santa Clara fell to 1-2 in conference play and 17-13 overall. The Broncos will travel to Spokane on Friday to face the Gonzaga Bulldogs in a three-game series.
WOmen's water polo
Santa Clara 18, Chapman 8
Santa Clara 14, Pacific 4
In the first of two matches played at the Leavey Pool on Sunday, Santa Clara had little trouble with the Panthers of Chapman, besting them by ten goals. Senior Lindsey Bacolini and junior Katie Radvanyi both had hat tricks en route to the Broncos' victory. A total of ten players scored at least once, with six scoring two goals or more. Radvanyi had four goals in the second game of the day against the Tigers to propel the Broncos to consecutive ten-goal wins.
--From staff reports