Baseball Puts Together Late Push at Cal Poly

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — The Santa Clara University baseball team scored two runs in the ninth inning and had the tying run in the hole, but host Cal Poly was able to stave off a comeback and snap the Broncos' recent streak of dominance in the series with a 9-3 non-conference win at Baggett Stadium.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

Santa Clara (18-16) was causing problems on the base paths for the Mustangs (21-14) all night long, with runners on base in seven of nine innings. But it had stranded 10 runners already through the first eight frames while only scoring one run. It put more traffic on in the ninth, but this time it put up a crooked number on the scoreboard.
  Payton Lambert and Thomas Gould both scored on wild pitches to make it 9-3, while Johnny Tarantino and Kai Cunningham loaded the bases with two outs on a walk and a single, respectively. Koen Carston almost put the tying run on deck in the next at-bat, but his hard-hit ground ball was scooped up by Cal Poly third baseman Alejandro Garza, who made the final out with a throw to second base.
  Cal Poly used the long ball from start to finish Tuesday, hitting a solo home run in the first inning to take a 1-0 lead, and hitting another homer in the sixth to make it 7-1 at the time, part of three round trippers on the night. The Mustangs posted three multi-hit performances, led by Dylan Kordic's 2-for-3 night with a home run, three RBIs and two runs scored.
  The night's biggest difference came in the first inning. A two-out error by the Broncos extended the inning for Cal Poly and sparked a two-out rally. The Mustangs would push across three unearned runs after the mistake, giving themselves a 4-0 lead instead of Santa Clara escaping only trailing 1-0 after Jake Steels' leadoff homer.
  Ben Steck extended his hitting streak to five games with an RBI single. Thomas Gould tied a career high with two hits while also scoring a run. Five different Broncos relievers posted scoreless outings. Jace Gillmore threw 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, while Will Pappas, Nico Stanley, Henry Stewart and Jack Lazark all threw one shutout inning each.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

9: Nine different Santa Clara freshmen played in Tuesday's game. They accounted for three of the Broncos' seven hits, two of their three runs scored and 3 1/3 shutout innings of relief. 13: Santa Clara stranded 13 runners on base, including leaving the bases loaded twice. The Broncos went 2 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

NEXT UP

Santa Clara travels south again on Saturday for two games in one day. The Broncos will take on host Southern California in Irvine, Calif., at 2 p.m., then face Sacramento State in a neutral site game at 6 p.m. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.