Santa Clara University

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — They did it.
 
The Santa Clara University baseball team won its eighth game in a row Saturday, completing a three-game West Coast Conference sweep of Pepperdine with a 3-2 win at Stephen Schott Stadium, and in the process, clinching the final spot in the 2026 WCC Tournament.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Broncos (25-28, 13-14 WCC) had one goal on Saturday – win and get in. Seven consecutive wins entering the day had set them up to clinch the sixth and final spot in the WCC Tournament. The day was already an emotional one after 12 seniors were honored in a pregame ceremony, and the game immediately became a tight one focused on pitching and key hits with offense at a premium.
   
• Saturday wasn't the offensive explosion of the previous two nights that Santa Clara had enjoyed — five hits and no first-inning run for the first time during the winning streak. But three of those hits went for extra bases, including solo home runs from Luke Devine and Ben Cleary. SCU's first run still came before Pepperdine's and came the hard way: a leadoff single from Devine, a hit-by-pitch, a sacrifice bunt and an RBI groundout from Bryant Viskovich made it 1-0 in the second.
   
• Devine was the center of the Broncos' offense, going 3 for 4 and missing hitting for the cycle by only a triple. His first-pitch, one-out solo homer in the fourth made it 2-0. Cleary added a pivotal insurance run in the seventh with his own one-out solo shot, making it 3-0. That'd prove to be the winning run, as the Waves (21-32, 15-12 WCC) put together a two-out rally in the top of the eighth, capped by a two-run home run from Daniel Patterson. Julian Nunez followed with a double and reached third base on an error, but Cooper Lanz stranded the tying run at third with a looking strikeout against Joshua Woodworth.
   
• Pitching came through once again for the Broncos, as three arms combined to limit their opponent to two or fewer runs for the fourth straight game. Tyler Alleman (2-1) threw a career-long six shutout innings, only allowing two hits and one walk with two strikeouts to earn the win. Alleman faced only three batters over the minimum and never allowed a runner past first base. He retired seven in a row from the second through the fourth and only threw 64 pitches in his six innings of work.
   
• Josh Johnson threw a perfect seventh and got the first two outs of the eighth, but ran out of steam after he walked pinch-hitter Danny Cook on five pitches, then went to a full count against Patterson before allowing the two-run homer. Lanz stranded the tying run in scoring position twice, escaping the eighth with a strikeout, then getting three consecutive outs in the ninth after allowing a leadoff double to Trey Dunn. He ended the game on a swinging strikeout of Finley Buckner, sending the Broncos' dugout pouring onto the field in celebration.
   
• Cleary extended his hitting streak to eight games with his home run. Ferroggiaro went 1 for 4 to notch hits in three straight and 11 of his last 12 games. Five different Waves had hits, and all were in the top-six spots in the order. Pepperdine starter Collin Valentine (3-6) took the loss after giving up two runs on three hits, two hit batters and a walk in four innings.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 0: Neither team had a hit with runners in scoring position Saturday, going a combined 0 for 10 (Pepperdine 0 for 4, Santa Clara 0 for 6). They were a combined 1 for 18 (Pepperdine 1 for 10, Santa Clara 0 for 8) with runners on base anywhere.
• 3rd: Santa Clara will make its third appearance in the last four years at the WCC Baseball Tournament next week. The Broncos won the tournament in 2023 and went one-and-done in the first round of the 2024 tournament. Both of those appearances were played in Las Vegas.
• 8: The Broncos' eight-game winning streak matches their longest since also winning eight straight from May 14-27, 2023, when they made a run through the WCC Tournament on their way to an NCAA Regional. The last time the team won nine in a row was only a week before that streak started, when it rattled off nine straight from April 23-May 7, 2023.

COMING UP

• Santa Clara opens the 2026 WCC Tournament on Wednesday versus San Francisco, a team it was swept by in three consecutive one-run games on the road on March 20-22. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.