SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Santa Clara University baseball team showed Sunday it continues to trend in the right direction on multiple fronts, as the pitching staff posted its first shutout of the year and the offense logged its third consecutive game with double-digit hits, carrying the Broncos to a 7-0 series-clinching win over UC Davis at Stephen Schott Stadium.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Cade Pilchard (1-1), who – like the Santa Clara staff as a whole – has seen a steady rise over the last two weeks, threw six shutout innings Sunday, only allowing one hit and striking out four. The two-out double he allowed in the second was the only hit he'd surrender all day, following it with 4 1/3 no-hit innings. He retired 10 of the last 13 batters he faced, and though he allowed five free passes (four walks, one hit-by-pitch), he proved his resilience by forcing the Aggies (8-7) to go 0 for 7 with runners in scoring position and 0 for 8 with runners on base anywhere.
   
• The Santa Clara (9-5) offense batted .325 over the weekend with three consecutive double-digit-hit games, including 12 more hits on Sunday. The Broncos tallied three doubles, part of 11 extra-base hits in the three-game weekend series. JonJon Berring led the way Sunday, going 3 for 5 with a double, a stolen base and a run scored. Coleman Brigman (2 for 4), Malcolm Williams (2 for 3), and freshman Isaac Hawthrone (2 for 3) – making his first career start – also had multi-hit days at the plate.
   
• The Broncos were opportunistic on offense all day, scoring in all kinds of different ways. They scored their first run in the bottom of the first with runners on the corners and a wild pitch, sneaking a runner home on the throw down to second. Back-to-back two-out RBI singles by Williams and Thomas Gould made it 3-0 in the third. Hawthrone earned his first career RBI in the fifth with an RBI single to make it 4-0, and a UC Davis error in the same inning scored another run, making it 5-0. A sacrifice fly from Ben Cleary in the seventh and a ground-rule RBI double by Efrain Manzo in the eighth put them up by the final score, 7-0.
   
• Santa Clara hadn't thrown a shutout since the championship game of last year's West Coast Conference Tournament, and it only had two shutouts all season in 2023. But that doesn't mean the pitching staff hasn't been doing work. The Broncos led the WCC in ERA a year ago and were ranked 40th in the nation. This season has been a tale of two different two-week periods. The staff carried an 8.31 ERA through the first two weeks (six games) of the year, but over the past two weeks (eight games), the staff ERA has been only 2.67.k
   
• UC Davis got a multi-hit showing from Ryan Lee, who went 2 for 4. Mark Wolbert (1 for 2), Nick Iverson (1 for 3) and Alex Gouveia (1 for 3) accounted for the rest of the Aggies' five hits on the day. Mason Lerma (0-2) took the loss, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits in 4 1/3 innings of work.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 0 for 11: UC Davis went 0 for 11 Sunday with runners in scoring position. It left runners in scoring position in six of nine innings, including two of the last three.
• 4: Berring's stolen base in the fourth inning pushed the Broncos' streak of having at least one stolen bag in a game to four. Santa Clara has had at least one stolen base in 12 of 14 games this year, and is 28 for 33 (84.8% success) on the year.
• 16 and 19: Berring and Williams both extended their respective streaks, with Berring reaching base safely for the 16th consecutive game, and Williams pushin his hitting streak to 19 games with a 2-for-3 day at the plate. Both streaks date back to last season.

NEXT UP
The Broncos' home stand concludes Tuesday with a midweek game against Ivy League member Columbia. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.