CORVALLIS, Ore. — The Santa Clara University baseball team flexed its offensive muscle early Saturday, but had a hard time doing the same in its nightcap, as the Broncos split a pair of non-conference games at Oregon State's Goss Stadium, beating Grand Canyon, 8-3, before falling to the host and No. 11-ranked Beavers, 8-0, in a rain-shortened contest.
 
vs. GRAND CANYON

• The Broncos (8-8) doubled their season home run total in one game Saturday, hitting three bombs against the Lopes (12-7) after entering the day with three in the season's first four weeks. Dylan Joyce got the Broncos going early with his third homer of the year, a two-run shot in the bottom of the first to make it 2-0.
   
• Mateo Garcia and Johnny Luetzow both hit their first career home runs in the sixth inning. The homers were only separated by one batter (Joyce), both were two-run shots, and both followed singles by the hitter ahead of them. What had been a close, 4-2, game, exploded into an 8-2 lead for Santa Clara.
   
• Garcia also had a two-run double in the fourth as part of his four-RBI, 3-for-5 day at the plate. Luetzow went 4 for 5, and Joyce went 3 for 4. Santa Clara's 2-through-5 hitters went 12 for 19 (.632), drove in all eight runs and scored seven of them. The Broncos finished with 13 hits, one short of their season high.
   
• Brandon Gomez (2-2) struck out five and only allowed one earned run (two total) in five innings for the win. Victor Martinez earned his first save of the year with four innings of relief duty. He struck out three with no walks and allowed only one run.
   
• Grand Canyon leadoff hitter Josh Wakefield went 3 for 5. Eddy Pelc hit a solo home run in the ninth off of Martinez to make it 8-3, and also drew a bases-loaded walk in the fifth. GCU's Garrett Ahern (3-1) suffered his first defeat of the year, walking five and allowing four runs in four innings pitched.

vs. No. 11 OREGON STATE

• Saturday's nightcap was a wet and rainy one against No. 11-ranked Oregon State, with temperatures in the 40s and light rain falling from the start, becoming heavier later in the evening. The game would eventually be called after seven innings when heavier rain delayed the game briefly before both teams decided to end it instead of waiting out the rain.
   
• Max Bayles (1-2) was locked in a pitchers' duel against OSU's Dax Whitney for the first three innings. Neither team recorded a hit the first time through their batting orders. Bayles recorded four strikeouts in the first three innings and only allowed two base runners. Whitney (2-2) only faced three over the minimum while throwing five no-hit innings.
   
• Oregon State finally broke through against Bayles in the fourth. The first three batters of the inning all singled. The second and third hits – a seeing-eye single and a bloop to left field brought across the game's first run. Two more singles after a strikeout brought home two more before the rally was finally snuffed out by a double play.
   
• The Beavers rallied again in the sixth, tacking on four more runs to make it 7-0. The rally started with a tough grounder to third base by Tyce Peterson that could also have gone as an error. Two one-out walks loaded the bases, and then came an RBI single from Wilson Weber, a sacrifice fly, and an RBI double from Trent Caraway.
   
• Santa Clara's lone hit of the game came from Luetzow, who gave himself a modest three-game hitting streak with his 5-for-8 showing over two games Saturday. Luetzow singled in the top of the seventh before the game was called in the bottom half with Oregon State rallying and already another run on the board to make it 8-0.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 1: Santa Clara's one hit versus Oregon State Saturday was its fewest hits in a game since being no-hit by Pacific on April 14, 2019.
• 3: Joyce has already surpassed his home run total from last season (2), with still nine weeks left in the regular season. He didn't hit his first home run last season until March 17.

COMING UP

• The Broncos' longest home stand starts Monday with a single non-conference game versus Nevada before opening West Coast Conference play against San Francisco starting Friday. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.