March 14, 2003
Final Stats
Moraga, CA - The Santa Clara Broncos tallied a season-high 20 hits to defeat the Saint Mary's Gaels in the West Coast Conference opener, 12-8, on Friday, March 14. With the win SCU improves to 9-15 (1-0 WCC), while the Gaels fall to 8-12 (0-1 WCC).
The Gaels were first to score as Tim Spooner scored Gilbert Gil on a single to left field. Gil got on base with a leadoff single as was moved to second and third on sacrifice hits by Jeff Cunningham and Bryan Byrne, respectively.
Will Thompson helped the Broncos tie the score at one each after a leadoff homerun to right field, his fifth of the season. Jack Headley then followed with a single and was later scored by Michael Thompson to lead SCU to a 2-1 lead.
In the third inning Scott Shapiro hit a single and was quickly followed by Will Thompson, who connected on his second homerun of the day and seventh on the season to give Santa Clara a 4-1 advantage.
The Gaels posted two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to cut the lead to 4-3. A Byrne single brought home Mike Sansoe, who reached base on a walk. The next batter, Spooner, brought home Cunningham when he reach base on a throwing error by SCU third baseman Michael Thompson.
Scott Dierks and A.J. LaBarbera hit back-to-back doubles after a walk by Michael Lange to add three runs to the Broncos run total in the sixth inning, taking a 7-3 lead.
Santa Clara continued their extensive scoring with a leadoff homerun by Jim Wallace, his third of the year, bringing the score to 8-3 SCU. SCU followed the homerun with back-to-back singles and a walk. The Broncos added three more runs to reach double-digit scoring and an 11-3 lead.
In the bottom of the seventh inning the Gaels loaded the bases with no outs to begin a comeback. Adam Bellows and Gil then helped the Gaels' threat with an RBI to cut SCU's lead to six runs. With two runners in scoring position, Cunningham smashed a single to left, scoring two more SMC runs. Byrne then doubled to left field to score Cunningham, the Gaels' fifth run of the inning. After seven innings of play the Broncos led 11-8.
SCU's starting pitcher, Joe Diefenderfer, earned the win to improve to 3-3 on the season, while Eric Bowden falls to 2-3. Patrick Overholt collected his fourth save of the year for two innings of relief.
Noteably, every Gael hitter tallied a hit in today's game with four players finishing with two hits.
The Gaels will continue the three-game conference series against the Santa Clara Broncos on Saturday, March 15. First pitch is scheduled for 1:00 PM on Louis Guisto Field.
