SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Santa Clara University baseball team took advantage of mistakes to erase an early deficit and cruise to a 10-5 series-opening victory Thursday over visiting UC San Diego at Stephen Schott Stadium.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Tritons (13-11) were tagged with three errors in the game, which led to six unearned runs. UCSD starter Jake Villar (0-2) began the night with a 2.45 season ERA. By night's end, he'd allow nine runs – only three earned – over four innings of work.
   
• Santa Clara's journey to its fifth come-from-behind victory of the season began in the second inning, after UC San Diego had taken a 2-0 lead in the top half. The Broncos rallied for five runs, all with two outs, after the Tritons' defense threw away what should've been an easy groundout to second base earlier in the inning. That opened the door for five consecutive two-out knocks, four of them bringing home runs, including back-to-back-to-back RBI doubles  by Luke Devine, Mateo Garcia and Johnny Luetzow, giving Santa Clara (10-11) a 5-2 lead.
   
• A trio of freshman relievers helped carry the Broncos to victory on the mound. Lefty RJ Meyn (2-0) posted his best outing of the season with 4 1/3 innings of shutout relief . He struck out a season-high five to earn his second win and lower his season ERA by more than three runs. Fellow redshirt freshman Tyler Alleman threw two innings of shutout relief, striking out two. And true freshman Andrew Habermann got the final out of the game to strand two runners with the tying run in the hole and close out the game.
   
• Four Broncos posted multi-hit games, led by Thomas Ferroggiaro's 3-for-4 night at the plate. Ferroggiaro stayed steadfast through his first nine appearances of the season, going only 2 for 32, and he was rewarded Thursday for his patience with three hits. His final hit of the game in the seventh put the icing on the cake for Santa Clara in the form of a two-out, full-count, RBI single for its 10th run of the game. Dylan Joyce went 2 for 4 with two RBIs, Max Ross went 2 for 5 with a triple and two RBIs, and Johnny Luetzow went 2 for 5 with a double and an RBI.
   
• Santa Clara boosted its lead to 9-2 in the fourth inning with four more runs, a rally once again fueled in part by a UC San Diego error. Ferroggiaro led off the inning with a single and Devine walked, giving the Broncos two runners with no outs. Garcia tried to give himself up with a bunt to move both runners into scoring position, but the Tritons threw the ball offline again, loading the bases with no outs. Dylan Joyce singled to the score Ferroggiaro, and Devine scrambled home when the UCSD infield threw another ball wildly, this time trying to get him at the plate. Ross' triple scored Garcia and Joyce, making it 9-2.
   
• Noah Lazuka went 3 for 5 with a double and an RBI to lead the Tritons' offense. Cooper Thacker went 2 for 4 with an RBI. UC San Diego used four pitchers on the night, with Trevor Nickerson posting the shortest outing at 2/3 of an inning.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 4: The Broncos had four extra-base hits Thursday (three doubles, one triple). It was their most extra-base hits in six games, and their fourth game this season with at least four extra-base hits. They are 3-1 this season in those games.
• 8: Santa Clara had eight hits with runners in scoring position Thursday, batting .571 (8 for 14) in that situation. It entered the game hitting .236 with RISP all season (20 games).

COMING UP

• Game two of the series is scheduled for 6 p.m. Friday, with game three slated for a 1 p.m. start Saturday and the finale at 11 a.m. Sunday. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.