BERKELEY, Calif. — The Bronco Boys are back.
 
The Santa Clara University baseball team exploded for 13 runs on Opening Night Friday, eventually run-ruling host California off its own field in a 13-2, seven-inning, season-opening win at Stu Gordon Stadium.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Everything came together for the Broncos (1-0) on Friday. Their No. 1 and 2 hitters reached base eight times to set the table. The offense delivered five hits with runners in scoring position, Max Bayles (1-0) threw four shutout innings to earn the win, and RJ Meyn recorded his first career save with three innings of relief, preserving the bullpen for the rest of the series.
   
• Santa Clara capitalized on eight walks, two hit-by-pitches, two wild pitches and a defensive error by the Golden Bears (0-1) to score its most runs since a 13-6 win over Stanford on May 6 last season. The Broncos outhit California, 9-7, and held the Bears to 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position.
   
• Santa Clara broke the game open with 11 runs over two innings — seven in the fifth and four in the sixth. The Broncos batted around in the fifth after four straight free baserunners, two of which produced the first two runs of the rally. Luke Devine notched his first RBI of 2026 with a sacrifice fly, and Johnny Luetzow cleared the bases with a three-run double. The inning's final run scored when Cal second baseman Jacob French bobbled a ground ball, allowing Will Anderson to reach safely as Luetzow raced home from second to make it 8-0.
   
• More erratic pitching from California fueled Santa Clara's four-run sixth. Three straight leadoff singles — the last an RBI knock from Ben Cleary — began the scoring. Back-to-back wild pitches brought home two more runs, and Luetzow added his fourth RBI in two innings with a single up the middle.
   
• Santa Clara was no-hit through three innings in a 0-0 game. After Thomas Ferroggiaro drew a leadoff walk in the first, California starter Oliver De La Torre (0-1) retired nine straight through the third. Bayles struck out five over four shutout innings, working around two walks and three hits. He stranded a leadoff double in the first and a leadoff walk in the fourth, ending both the first and third innings with strikeouts.
   
• Cleary finally sparked the offense with a looping leadoff single in the fourth. He scored three batters later when Mateo Garcia lined a double just inside the right-field line to give SCU a 1-0 lead. Santa Clara loaded the bases again in the seventh with one out, but Devine's second sacrifice fly provided the only insurance run of the inning, making it 13-0 at the time.
   
• Meyn earned his first career save with three innings of relief. He retired six of the first seven batters he faced before allowing two runs in the seventh. He struck out two in that inning, the last to end the game.
   
• Ferroggiaro and Cleary each went 2 for 3, drew two walks and scored three runs atop the order. Luetzow added two hits and a career-high four RBIs. French led California, going 2 for 4 from the leadoff spot with a double and an RBI. De La Torre (0-1) took the loss after allowing one run with four strikeouts in four innings.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 7: Santa Clara's seven-run fifth was the most runs it's scored in a single inning since scoring eight in the sixth inning at Portland last season on May 1.
• 19: Ferroggiaro reached base four times (two singles, two walks) to extend his reached base safely streak to 19 games, a rollover of an 18-game streak he ended 2025 with.

COMING UP

• The series continues with a doubleheader Saturday in Berkeley. The first game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start, with the second game to follow 45 minutes after the conclusion of the first. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.