FAYETTEVILLE — Following a season-ending 6-4 loss Sunday night to Arkansas, Santa Clara coach Rusty Filter brought 11 of his seniors into the interview room at Baum-Walker Stadium.
There was only enough room for three of them to speak at the table in the front of the room, so the rest of the veteran group crowded into a corner and heard their sixth-year coach give heartfelt sentiments about their foundation-setting accomplishments.
Prior to the NCAA Fayetteville Regional, the Broncos had not won a tournament game since 1997, which was also the last time they made an appearance in the postseason. None of the seniors in the room had experienced a winning season until 2023.
Not only did they change those fortunes Saturday night when they eliminated Arizona, but the Broncos made the national No. 3 seed Razorbacks sweat things out in the elimination game. It took an eighth-inning, two-run home run by Arkansas designated hitter Kendall Diggs and clutch late pitching to prevent a Santa Clara rally.
“These 11 boys right here mean the word to me,” Filter said. “They’re part of me. I hope to take a part of them with me. I would like to think that they're going to take a part of me with them.
“I think seven of them are already graduated — they're not in school. We've got engineering majors, a 3.5 team GPA, but we play baseball, too. And [we were] not intimidated, didn't back down. It's just a great group of young men.”
More from WholeHogSports: How to watch, listen to Arkansas-TCU
In its 26 home games this year, Santa Clara played in front of a cumulative crowd of 9,139. The attendance at Baum-Walker Stadium in the two games the Broncos played the Razorbacks (11,078 on Friday and 10,395 on Sunday) each exceeded that figure.
“It was an experience of a lifetime, no doubt,” Santa Clara senior right fielder Michael O’Hara said. “Fans here were amazing — no denying that.
"Most of the time it was nice, sometimes not so much, but you're honestly coming down here expecting a little bit more of that.
"It was an awesome experience and it's going to be one that this program can take in the back pocket and kind of spread to the guys we’ve got coming in. And when we're here next year, it's not going to be any surprise. We're going to be ready from the jump.”
The Broncos trailed the Razorbacks 4-0 midway through the sixth inning but rallied to make things interesting. Arkansas fans were sweating things out until the final pitch, which resulted in a game-ending double play with the tying run at the plate.
Santa Clara had won nine of its last 10 games entering its matchup against Arkansas — the only loss 13-6 to the Razorbacks on Friday.
“We beat a good team today,” Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn said. “Santa Clara is a solid team. [They have] veterans, they can hit and pitch and field — two good wins against them in this tournament.”
The Broncos had their most successful season since 1997 in nearly every regard. Their 36 wins were their most in 26 years, as was their West Coast Conference Tournament title.
“Those are our brothers, man,” O’Hara said from the podium while looking around at the other seniors in the room. “We've been together for four years. None of us guys quit. We had a vision [and] came into a program that we saw had a bright future and just needed some work…and work we did.”