STANFORD, Calif. — Another inning, and Tuesday night's ballgame might have had a totally different outcome.
 
After a sluggish start, the Santa Clara University baseball team's offense made a late charge, putting the tying run on deck in the eighth inning and bringing it to the plate in the ninth. But host Stanford pushed across enough runs early to avoid a season sweep at the hands of the Broncos and hang on for a narrow, 7-6, win at Sunken Diamond.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Santa Clara (21-20) kept its late-inning rally engine running Tuesday, coming off a walk-off victory on Sunday. Having already scored twice in the eighth, the Broncos went to work again in the ninth, getting three consecutive hits to start the frame, including an RBI double from Malcolm Williams that made it 7-4. Consecutive RBI groundouts by reigning West Coast Conference Freshman of the Week Kai Cunningham and fellow freshman Ben Cleary brought home two more runs and turned what had been a 7-1 Stanford (20-22) lead into a one-run game in the ninth at 7-6.
   
• The lineup rolled over and brought regular rally starter JonJon Berring to the plate. Berring took the first two pitches of his at-bat for strikes. Facing an 0-2 count and a one-run deficit, he hit the third pitch towering into the air towards the right-center field gap. But instead of going over the wall to tie the game, it landed into the glove of Stanford right fielder Brady Reynolds, ending the game.
   
• The Broncos entered the eighth trailing 7-1, but they scored two runs and brought the tying run on deck before finally relenting. It started with loading the bases with only one out. An RBI groundout from Coleman Brigman scored a run and a wild pitch scored another, making it 7-3. Robert Hipwell drew a walk to put runners on the corners and bring up team home runs leader Efrain Manzo, but Manzo flew out to deep right field to end the threat.
   
• Berring had already started a rally earlier in the game, helping get Santa Clara on the board in the fourth inning. His hard-hit ground ball was mishandled by Stanford first baseman Brandon Larson, giving the Broncos a leadoff base runner. His speed helped avoid a double play two batters later, and it also stole him third base, his 15th steal of the year. Manzo notched SCU's first hit of the game, a seeing-eye single through the left side, scoring Berring and making it 3-1 at the time.
   
• Outside of last two innings, the Stanford pitching staff held down the Broncos lineup. Cardinal pitchers struck out 11 Broncos and only allowed two hits through the first seven innings. Freshman Stanford starter Joey Volchko (1-1) earned his first career victory with season highs in innings pitched (6) and strikeouts (11). He entered Tuesday's game with a 7.56 season ERA.
   
• Stanford (20-22) had runners on base in seven innings, runners in scoring position in six of them, but scored no more than two runs at a time. The Cardinal led 2-0 after the first, 3-0 after the third, 5-1 after the fourth and 7-1 after the sixth.
   
• Santa Clara pitchers worked around trouble to strand 10 Cardinal runners, six in scoring position. For all the traffic it put on the base paths, Stanford only had three hits (3 for 12) with runners in scoring position.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 1-1: Santa Clara and Stanford have split their season series for each of the past two seasons, going 1-1 against each other in both years. Both teams have won once on the road and once at home since 2023.
• 2: Jack Lazark and Henry Stewart combined to give Santa Clara two shutout appearances on Tuesday. Lazark threw 1 1/3 shutout innings, and Stewart threw one shutout frame with a strikeout.

NEXT UP

• The Broncos' road trip continues this weekend with a three-game West Coast Conference series at first-place San Diego. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.