Broncos Walk Off in Tenth Inning

By Tom Schreier

Evan Peters got the pitch he was looking for on Tuesday night at Schott Stadium. With one swing, the senior infielder became a hero as he sent the ball flying deep into the night, a walk-off home run in extra innings that propelled the Broncos to a 7-5 victory over San Francisco State.

Peters stepped into the spotlight in the bottom of the tenth inning to face San Francisco State's left-handed pitcher Jack Jorgensen.

"I was looking for something right down the middle, something fast," Peters said after the win, "and I got it."

The baseball, which had been taking a direct path from pitcher to catcher for most of the night, suddenly changed direction - first colliding with his bat and later settling behind the left field fence.

"Any time you walk off that's pretty sweet," said Peters.

The beginning of the game was not so sweet for Santa Clara starter James Smith, who walked the first two batters he faced and gave up a run in each of the first two innings.

"We came out very flat after a weekend off," said Head Coach Dan O'Brien, whose team entered the game on a three-game winning streak after sweeping a mid-week series against Seattle. "There's no excuse for it."

Andrew Biancardi tied the game with a two-run home run in the fourth inning, but Smith would allow two more runs before Chris Heckert replaced him in the top of the fifth.

"Smitty for some reason started to get too analytical out on the mound," said O'Brien. "The guys came in out of the pen and really picked him up."

Heckert and Powell Fansler both made relief appearances, but Fansler left the game with a 5-4 deficit.

Paul Twining entered the game as a reliever in the top of the ninth inning.

In the bottom half of the frame, Matt Ozanne's single scored Justin Viele, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Ozanne stole second, which prompted SFSU pitcher Branden Petrangelo to intentionally walk Pat Stover. Stephen Takahashi then grounded out to second, ending the threat, and sending the game into extra innings.
Twining allowed two singles in the tenth, but ended the inning with a strikeout.

He would not need to return to the mound. After Drew Ozanne led off the bottom of the 10th by flying out, Quinton Perry singled to left. O'Brien then summoned Zach Looney to pinch-run for Perry in an effort to get some more speed on the base paths. But when Peters followed with his blast to left field, there was no need for Looney to rush home. He could simply trot, with Peters following suit behind him.

"I was just trying to get on base with a single, but it was pretty awesome to end it right there," said Peters after the game. "Every game we try and fight, especially when we're down, and tonight it worked out for us."

Contact Tom Schreier at tschreier@scu.edu or (408) 554-4852.