SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — The defending West Coast Conference Tournament champions are the favorites in 2024 to win the WCC title, and they'll have plenty of help along the way.
 
The Santa Clara University baseball team was picked first in the WCC Preseason Coaches' Poll, and six Broncos were named Preseason All-WCC, as the conference announced its annual preseason awards Thursday.
 
Outfielders JonJon Berring and Coleman Brigman, infielder Efrain Manzo, and pitchers Brandon Gomez, Blake Hammond and Cole Kitchen were all named to the Preseason All-WCC Team. The Broncos' six preseason team nods were the most of any other school in the conference.
 
Santa Clara received five first-place votes and totaled 58 points to sit atop the poll. San Diego and Portland tied for second with 54 points each, with the Toreros claiming three of the remaining four first-place votes, and the Pilots garnering the other.
 

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Now let's go get it done#StampedeTogether | #SCUBroncos pic.twitter.com/YFaUqnrN4r

— Santa Clara Baseball (@SCU_Baseball) February 8, 2024

The Broncos went 36-20 in 2023, went unbeaten in the WCC Tournament to win the title in Las Vegas, and booked their first trip to the NCAA Tournament in 26 years. The team went 17-10 in WCC play to finish tied for second. It was the Broncos' most conference wins in 20 years, and their highest placing since a second-place finish in the WCC's West Division in 2004. The 36 wins on the year were the program's most since winning 41 in 1997, and was its first 30-win campaign in 15 years.
 
Berring returns in 2024 for his senior campaign after earning all-WCC Honorable Mention accolades in 2023. Berring, who was also named preseason all-conference last month by Perfect Game, hit .315 with four home runs, 10 doubles and 24 RBIs last year. He has 41 career stolen bases, 13 away from the Santa Clara career top-10 list. He was second on the team in 2023 with 16 swipes.
 
Brigman is back for his fifth year patrolling the Broncos' outfield after twice being named all-WCC Honorable Mention the past two seasons. He slugged .519 in 2023 with 12 home runs, 13 doubles and 50 RBIs while also stealing 10 bases. Brigman logged 23 multi-hit games last season and posted a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in over 140 chances as the Broncos' starting center fielder.
 
Manzo is back after a momentous offensive campaign in 2023 that saw him etch his name into multiple top-10 lists and earn all-WCC honorable mention recognition. His 18 home runs last season were tied for second-most in program history and second in the WCC. He had 20 doubles and two triples for 40 total extra-base hits, tied for third-most in program history. He started every game and batted .313 with 21 multi-hit games and a team-high 57 RBIs. He also had five multi-home run games, slugging .661 and carrying a .411 on-base percentage along the way.
 
Gomez was a control artist in 2023, posting a better-than 4-to-1 strikeouts-to-walks ratio. He landed on the WCC All-Tournament Team after helping lead the Broncos to the title with eight shutout innings in the championship game. He tied for the team lead with six wins and struck out 57 in 59 innings pitched. He also threw a complete-game shutout at Saint Mary's last March while buoying himself to a sub-4.00 ERA.
 
Hammond went 6-1 with a 2.53 ERA in 19 relief appearances last season, picking up all-WCC second team honors along the way. He had a better-than 2-to-1 strikeouts-to-walks ratio while holding opponents to a .210 batting average. Hammond struck out opponents at a high rate, averaging 12.63 Ks per nine innings. He only allowed two home runs a year ago, tied for second-lowest on the team among pitchers with at least 10 innings pitched.
 
Kitchen was the Broncos' Friday night starter in 2023. He logged a team-high 81 1/3 innings and was second on the team with 68 strikeouts. He held opponents to a .229 batting average and was second in the WCC in hits allowed per nine innings (7.41). Kitchen posted a 3-2 record going head-to-head against opponents' best starters every week.
 
The Broncos kick off their 2024 campaign on Feb. 16 in Tempe, Ariz., with a three-game series against Arizona State. They open their 25-game home slate on Feb. 23 versus UMBC. Season tickets, single-game, and mini plans for all 25 of the Broncos' 2024 home games are on sale now. Click here to purchase your tickets online, call the Broncos ticket office (408-554-4660) or email them at broncotickets@scu.edu.