LAS VEGAS — They fought until the very end, like they had all year long.
 
The Santa Clara University baseball team put the tying run on deck in the eighth and got the leadoff man on in the ninth Wednesday, but another comeback was not in the books, as the Broncos' 2024 season came to an end on the first day of the West Coast Conference Tournament in a 9-4 defeat against No. 4 seed Gonzaga at Las Vegas Ballpark.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Santa Clara (26-26) entered the eighth trailing 8-2 and immediately went to work. Two hit-by-pitches and a throwing error loaded the bases for the Broncos with no outs. Jordan Lewis, having only entered the game an inning earlier as a defensive replacement, put a one-out RBI single through the left side to make it 8-3.
   
• Thomas Ferroggiaro brought in another run in the eighth with an RBI fielder's choice, making it 8-4. He ran hard down the line to avoid a potential inning-ending double play and rolled the lineup over back to the top. But the rally ended on an infield popup, stranding runners on the corners.
   
• WCC All-Freshman Team honoree Ben Cleary drew a leadoff walk to start the ninth and potentially spark another rally for the middle of the order, trailing by five. But a double play and a strikeout ended the game and the season for the Broncos.
   
• Santa Clara scored first to take a 1-0 lead in the third inning. Efrain Manzo doubled home Michael O'Hara to light up the scoreboard early. Gonzaga (20-30) answered right back in the bottom half with a one-out RBI triple from Hudson Shupe.
   
• It stayed 1-1 through the top of the fourth, as the game was shaping up to be a pitchers' duel between starters Brandon Gomez and Justin Feld. Gomez had only allowed two hits through three innings, and Feld had worked to strand seven runners on base – five in scoring position. But one two-out miscue in the field by Santa Clara turned the entire momentum of the game.
   
• After a one-out walk in the bottom of the fourth, Gonzaga put together three consecutive base hits that scored two runs and gave it a 3-1 advantage. All-WCC first team member Blake Hammond came in to relieve Gomez and intentionally walked Shupe to load the bases and get a force at any base. Hammond got the ground ball he was looking for out of Josh Hankins, and Manzo made a fantastic backhanded stop ranging to his right, falling to the ground away from first base. But when Manzo rolled over to throw to a covering Hammond, his throw went wide and rolled all the way to the backstop. Instead of the inning ending with a 3-1 score, all three runs came around and made it 6-1 Gonzaga.
   
• Santa Clara had its chances to score and pressured Gonzaga all night long. Of the nine base runners it left stranded, six were left in scoring position. The Broncos went 3 for 12 with runners in scoring position. They had the leadoff runner on base in six of nine innings, but only scored in three of those frames.
   
• Feld (4-2) struck out seven in seven innings, only allowing two earned runs, for the win. Graham threw two shutout innings with only one hit allowed to close out the game after Sotelo had allowed the Broncos to score two unearned runs. WCC All-Freshman team member Max Bayles threw a shutout inning in the eighth for the Broncos.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• .500: Santa Clara's 26-26 record in 2024 marked the first time the program has posted back-to-back .500-or-better seasons in 18 years, since it went 28-28 (.500) in 2005 and 28-26 (.519) in 2006.
• 26: Santa Clara's 26 wins in 2024 give the program three consecutive years of 24-or-more wins for the first time in 16 years. It won at least 25 games a year from 2002-08.
• 27: Santa Clara's two consecutive appearances at the WCC Tournament (2023, '24) mark the first time in 27 years it has gone to the postseason in back-to-back years. The Broncos played in an NCAA Tournament Play-In series in 1996 and played in the NCAA Tournament itself in 1997.