Women's lacrosse places second in national final

By Jenna Hudson

WOMEN'S LACROSSE

US Lacrosse Women's Division Intercollegiate Associates Championships

The women's club lacrosse team advanced to the final game where they lost to the three-time defending national champions, Cal Poly. They defeated No. 9-seeded Pittsburgh, No. 1-seeded Navy and No. 4-seeded Florida to reach the title game on Saturday at the Anheuser-Busch Center in St. Louis.

BASEBALL

Santa Clara 5, Pepperdine 4

Friday night at Buck Shaw Stadium, the Broncos staged a come-from-behind victory in the bottom of the ninth inning. Freshman pinch hitter Nathan Faulkner's RBI single scored sophomore David Hoffmire to win the game. Bronco junior closer Anthony Rea earned the win, increasing his record to 4-1 on the season. Freshman Kellan McConnell started the game for the Broncos, going seven full innings and striking out seven before junior Thomas Van Buskirk and Rea took over. Freshman Robert Perry led the offense with three RBI and Michael Lange and Shawn Epidendio both went 2-for-2.

Santa Clara 6, Pepperdine 5

On Saturday, for the second day in a row, the Broncos pulled off a ninth inning victory over the Waves. With two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, Hoffmire singled home Perry to win the game. Rea (5-1) again earned the win for the Broncos, pitching two no-hit innings. Perry starred for Santa Clara, going 3-for-4 at the plate, driving in three runs and scoring twice. Epidendio also had a solid day at the plate, going 2-for-4 with one RBI and one run scored.

Santa Clara 11, Pepperdine 3

The Broncos completed a three-game sweep over Pepperdine on Senior Day, the last home game of the year. The Broncos improved to 25-28 on the season and 14-13 in the WCC, while the Waves fell to 23-29 with a 17-10 conference record. Santa Clara is currently three games back from Pepperdine with three games remaining on the season. In order to advance to the WCC Championship series against Loyola Marymount, Santa Clara must sweep a three-game series at Portland and Pepperdine must lose all three games at San Francisco. The Broncos hold the tiebreaker over Pepperdine because they won four of their six match-ups. Senior John Redmond (6-2) earned the win for the Broncos, pitching eight innings and allowing only six hits and three runs with three strikeouts. Senior Patrick McBride threw the ninth inning. Senior David Mandley led the offense, going 3-for-5 with three RBI, while scoring twice. Sophomore Jason Matteucci and Perry also went 3-for-5 at the plate. Junior Ryan Chiarelli and sophomore Dustin Realini each had two hits, while senior Panch Romero came out of the first base coaching box to pinch hit.

Perry Earns Player of the Week Honors

Freshman center fielder Robert Perry was named Rawlings Player of the Week by the WCC. Perry went 9-for-15 for the week, drove in seven runs and scored four times. He had an .800 slugging percentage and batted .667 with seven RBI in the sweep over Pepperdine. On the season, Perry is batting .294 with 26 RBI.

SOFTBALL

PCSC Coach of the Year honors

Head Coach Marcy Crouch repeated as Coach of the Year, leading the Broncos to their first PCSC title in the conference's second season of existence. The Broncos ended the year with a 16-4 PCSC record, posting their second consecutive 30-win season.

PCSC Pitcher of the Year honors

Senior Jaime Forman-Lau received the award for best pitcher of the year for the second time. She led the conference with a 1.32 ERA, .201 opposing batting average and 131 strikeouts. Forman-Lau finished No. 13 in the nation with 25 victories and was also part of the 2004 All-Conference First-Team, along with sophomore teammates Jenny Brown, Shannon Linerud, Jessica Clee and senior Rachel Sherman. She was also a four-time PCSC Pitcher of the Week honoree.

CREW

Pacific Coast Rowing Championships and Pac-10 Championships

Men's crew finished their season strong with their showing at Lake Natoma last weekend. Every boat advanced to the grand final events for the first time in school history. The varsity eight advanced to the grand final with their third-place finish in the qualifying heat, holding off UCLA, Loyola Marymount and USC. They finished behind nationally-ranked No. 4 UC Berkeley and No. 7 Oregon State.