SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Through cold, wind, overcast and dark skies, and a little rain at the end, the Santa Clara University baseball team was going to get in its 2026 home opener Monday one way or another.
 
The Broncos made it a good one, as they scored double-digit runs against Power-4 program and Atlantic Coast Conference member California for the second time, beating the Golden Bears, 10-4, to earn a non-conference series split at Stephen Schott Stadium.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Broncos (2-2) earned their first come-from-behind victory of 2026 after having 13 in each of the past two seasons. Jacob French hit a leadoff home run on the fourth pitch of the game to put California (2-2) up, 1-0, but that was the last run it'd score until the eighth inning.
   
• Freshman righty Nick Chow (1-0) made his collegiate debut on Monday and settled in after French's homer. He ended the first inning with a strikeout, then struck out the side in the second, and capped his final inning of work in the third with another K. Santa Clara used five pitchers to wrap up the four-game series that began Friday. Fellow freshman Chase Ruden followed Chow with two scoreless, no-hit frames, striking out two along the way.
   
• The Broncos posted crooked numbers in the third and eighth innings. Max Ross' first home run of the season highlighted SCU's five-run third. Ross' three-run blast cleared the right field wall and made it 5-1 at the time. The inning also featured doubles from Mateo Garcia and Will Anderson.
   
• Three more runs came across for Santa Clara in the eighth to push its lead to 10-3 thanks to three RBI knocks. Ben Cleary's RBI double, Johnny Luetzow's RBI single and another RBI knock from Ross two pitches later did the damage.
   
• Andrew Habermann, another underclassmen arm, followed Chow and Ruden with four strikeouts in three innings of work, pitching shutout frames in the sixth and seventh before allowing only one earned run in the top of the eighth. Hunter Hargett entered in the ninth with Cal trying to rally – the bases loaded and no outs – and closed things out for the Broncos with an infield fly and back-to-back strikeouts.
   
• Santa Clara capitalized on four more California errors – giving the Bears seven in the series – to score three unearned runs, including the tying one in the bottom of the first. Cal shortstop Jett Kenady sailed a potential double play throw from second base into the Broncos' dugout, moving Garcia to second base. He'd come in to score a batter later when Luetzow doubled him home.
   
• Cleary, Luetzow and Ross all went 3 for 5 with extra-base hits. Thomas Ferroggiaro, newly crowned the West Coast Conference Player of the Week only three hours before Monday's first pitch, reached base three more times and scored two runs. French led California from the top of the order, going 1 for 2 with his leadoff home run, two RBIs, three walks and a run scored. Duncan Russell (0-1) took the loss for the Bears after allowing four runs (three earned) on three hits without recording an out.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 14: The Broncos chalked up double-digit hits for the second time in the series (11 in Saturday's game one). Monday's 14 were their most in a game since recording 15 hits versus Stanford on May 6 of last season.
• 22: Ferroggiaro's reached base streak is now 22 games, having ended the 2025 season with an 18-game streak and reaching in the first four games of 2026. His active hitting streak is also now eight games.

COMING UP

• Santa Clara next faces crosstown rival San Jose State on Wednesday in a game tentatively scheduled to be played at Excite Ballpark in San Jose. Stay tuned to the Broncos' social media channels and SantaClaraBroncos.com for schedule updates.