SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. — Santa Clara University baseball right-handed pitcher Blake Hammond threw a gem on Sunday to help the Broncos clinch a series victory and punch their ticket to the postseason for the second straight year, earning him Rawlings West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week honors for the week of May 6-12.
 
Hammond pitched the longest outing of his career Sunday against LMU in the rubber game of the series. He tossed eight innings, allowing just one earned run and striking out seven. He only allowed three hits all day. Hammond faced the minimum through 6 2/3 innings with only two base runners allowed during that entire time. Both of those runners were cut down on the base paths via an attempted wild pitch advance and a double play, respectively. He retired 12 in a row from the second through fourth innings, and 19 of 22 batters he faced from the 1st through the seventh.
 
Sunday marked Hammond's seventh outing in 2024 with at least six strikeouts. He lowered his ERA to a team-best 3.71 with the effort and pushed his already career season strikeouts total to 76.
 
Hammond's award is the Broncos' sixth WCC weekly award this season. JonJon Berring won the season's first two Player of the Week awards, Max Bayles has earned two Freshman of the Week awards, and Kai Cunningham won a Freshman of the Week award two weeks ago.
 
Hammond and the Broncos hit the road next week for their final regular season series of the year. They will take on Pacific in a three-game WCC series starting Thursday. Fans can find all live coverage links at SantaClaraBroncos.com.