Bronco Briefs | Softball splits series against Portland State

By Brian Betz

Softball

Portland State 2, SCU 1

The Broncos dropped game one of Saturday's doubleheader despite Jaime Forman-Lau's four hits, two unearned runs performance from the mound. Collectively Santa Clara only registered three hits off of Portland State starter Morgan Seibert, who went the distance while striking out six.

SCU 5, Portland State 2

Portland State's Morgan Seibert suffered from starting back-to-back games, as the Broncos tagged her for five runs in the first three innings, capped by senior Tracie Hall's sixth homerun of the season. The two-run shot set the single season record for the softball program, surpassing teammate Rachel Sherman's five set in 2002. Jaime Forman-Lau bounced back to pick up the win, improving her season record to 21-12. She allowed just two hits while striking out six.

Men's Crew

The men's squad had three boats in competition in the Grand Finals at Monday's WIRA Championships. The novice four boat finished fifth out of six teams, the second varsity eight boat placed fourth and the varsity eight boat crossed just three seconds behind the University of Washington to place fourth.

Women's Crew

The women's varsity eight boat finished sixth in the Grand Final race, while the second varsity eight placed second in their Grand Final.

Both the women and the men will compete this weekend in the Dad Vail Regatta held in Philadelphia before gearing up for the PCRC Championships the following weekend.

Baseball

Pepperdine 9, SCU 5

Last weekend's opener of the three-game series spanned two days as rain postponed Friday's contest into Saturday morning. Jim Wallace went 3-for-4 with a homerun and four RBIs in the loss. Pitcher Matt Travis picked up the loss for the Broncos, giving up five runs on 12 Wave hits. Pepperdine starter Greg Ramirez threw eight innings, striking out five in the winning effort.

Pepperdine 6, SCU 1

The Broncos jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the second inning off of a Michael Thompson RBI single that scored Will Thompson. However, those were all the runs they could muster as they would later commit four errors, which accounted for six unearned runs and an eventual second consecutive loss to the Waves. Pepperdine again received a solid pitching performance from starter Jacob Barrack, who went eight innings, allowing just one run on six hits, improving to 8-1 on the season.

SCU 7, Pepperdine 4

In a see-saw matchup that saw five lead changes, the Broncos sealed the victory in the eighth inning with Scott Dierks' two-run homerun, his 18th of the year.

Relievers Anthony Rea and Patrick Overholt combined for 3 2/3 scoreless innings, with Overholt picking up his ninth save after throwing the final three innings.

The win puts Santa Clara two full conference games back of the Coast Division leading Waves as six league contests stand between each team and the end of the regular season. Pepperdine ends the weekend at 19-5 in WCC play, while the Broncos stand at 17-7.