SAN FRANCISCO — The Santa Clara University baseball team had everything clicking Thursday, as shut-down pitching and power bats carried the Broncos to a 5-0 West Coast Conference series-opening win over San Francisco at Benedetti Diamond.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Santa Clara lefty Brandon Gomez (1-1) has been a steady presence in the Broncos' (13-10, 1-3 WCC) weekend rotation through the first half of the season, and he shined Thursday his first series-opening start of the year. Gomez posted his first scoreless outing of the season with five shutout innings and a season-high five strikeouts. He retired the first eight batters he faced and 10 of 12.
   
• Gomez got out of a bases-loaded jam in the fourth to strand them full, and when San Francisco (15-11, 0-1 WCC) put runners on the corners with only one out in the fifth, he escaped that as well with two more strikeouts. Gomez's efforts earned him his first victorious decision of the year.
   
• Blake Hammond backed up Gomez's winning effort with his second save of the season. Hammond shut down the Dons over the final four innings, not allowing a run and striking out four. USF put two runners on with one out in the eighth, and that's all they would get. Hammond retired the first seven batters he saw in a row, then closed the game out with five more consecutive outs. That included a 1-2-3 ninth that started with two strikeouts.
   
• Efrain Manzo hit his team-leading seventh home run, a two-run shot in the fifth that made it 4-0, and Dylan Joyce hit a solo homer in the second to put the Broncos on the board at 1-0. Manzo had three RBIs on the day with a sacrifice fly in the third that made it 2-0. Manzo also had a double in his 2-for-4 day, bumping his season slugging percentage to .696. Joyce was also 2 for 4, while five other Broncos logged singles as the Broncos tripled up the Dons in the hits column, 9-3.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 0: Santa Clara had zero stolen bases, ending a 13-game streak in which they had at least one stolen base. The Broncos were caught twice trying to steal Thursday.
• 2: The Broncos hit two home runs for their seventh multi-homer game as a team this season. Their last one came on March 17 at UNLV, which was also comprised of home runs from Joyce and Manzo.
• 8: Ben Cleary extended his hitting streak to eight games with an infield single back to the pitcher in the sixth inning. He's raised his season batting average 77 points during his streak, from .189 to .266.

NEXT UP
With rain in the forecast for Friday, the series moves to a doubleheader on Saturday for games two and three. Saturday's twin bill will start at 10:30 a.m. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.