Stanford baseball traveled down the peninsula to take on Santa Clara last night for its third showdown with the Broncos this year. In its previous two games, the Cardinal handled Santa Clara with ease, winning 3-1 and 13-6 on April 14 and 21, respectively. But this time around, it was the Broncos who triumphed, downing Stanford 10-9 in a game that was televised nationally by CBS College Sports Network.

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Jeff Keacher

The Cardinal fell again by a 10-9 score last night, this time against its peninsular rivals, Santa Clara. Santa Clara scored their winning run on a solo home run in the eighth inning. Stanford pitchers have given up six home runs in its past two games, raising the total on the season to 32.

With the score tied at nine in the eighth inning, Broncos first baseman Ryan Conan hit a one out solo home run to left on a 3-1 count, putting Santa Clara ahead for good.

For the No. 3 Cardinal (25-14-2, 10-5 Pac-10), the loss was the team’s second in a row — and came by the same score, no less. After Stanford took the first two games of its weekend series against USC, the Trojans avoided the sweep in Sunday’s series finale, 10-9. The Cardinal had not lost back-to-back games since April 9 and 11 against UC-Davis and Oregon State, respectively. Stanford went a remarkable 10-1 between its losing streaks.

Santa Clara (26-16, 7-5 West Coast Conference) was boosted by the tremendous hitting of shortstop Jon Karcich, who batted fifth to go 3-for-5 with a home run, four RBIs and a pair of runs scored to lead the Broncos offensively. Conan and third baseman Gabe Alcantar also buoyed the Santa Clara attack, as each belted a home run, Conan scored three runs and Alcantar drove in three.

The Cardinal offense countered with strong performances from several players, most notably junior second baseman Cord Phelps, who went 2-for-5 at the plate with a home run and four RBIs. Junior catcher Jason Castro also had a big night, going 3-for-5 at the plate, while freshman third baseman Colin Walsh went 2-for-3 with three RBIs and drew a pair of walks.

Santa Clara jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first inning, scoring three runs in a two-out rally off of Stanford junior Max Fearnow to trump Phelps’ leadoff solo shot which started the game. Fearnow allowed a single to start the inning but recorded a strikeout of left fielder Evan LeBlanc just as the Cardinal defense caught the runner stealing second. But after issuing a two-out single and walk, Karcich burned Stanford with a three-run homer.

The Broncos offense recorded another big inning in the fifth against a pair of Cardinal right-handers, sophomore Cory Bannister and freshman Michael Marshall. Bannister allowed four runs, as Santa Clara set the table with a leadoff walk and a single before being helped by a fielding error by Phelps to load the bases. A sacrifice fly and Alcantar’s home run brought the runners home and caused Cardinal coach Mark Marquess to make a call to his bullpen once again.

Marshall allowed the Broncos to bring one more run home, though, as a two-out walk and stolen base put a runner in scoring position for LeBlanc, who singled to left to bring Matt Long home.

Santa Clara’s pitchers, meanwhile, held the Cardinal offense largely in check over the final four frames, as Justin Kuehn and Mark Willinsky combined for four scoreless innings pitched.

The Cardinal has been victimized by the long ball in each of its past two losses, as it gave up three home runs apiece to the Trojans and Broncos. Previously, Stanford pitchers had allowed just 26 homers all season.

Stanford will hit the road again this Wednesday as it takes on UC-Davis in Davis, Calif., at 2:30 p.m. before facing San Jose State in a home-and-home two game set this weekend. Saturday’s game is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at Sunken Diamond.