HONOLULU —Santa Clara baseball faced a ninth-inning rally from Hawai'i for the second straight game, and the Broncos came out on top Sunday afternoon at Les Murakami Stadium. Grant Meylan made a sliding catch in right field with a one-run lead and runners on the corners to seal a 5-4 victory and earn the Broncos a series split.

The Rainbow Warriors (11-14) got singles from four of their first five batters to begin the comeback bid in the ninth. With one out and two runners in scoring position, Josh Rojas took a full count pitch through the right side to bring across two runs and make the score 5-4 Santa Clara. Matt LoCoco put the potential game-winning run aboard with a single, and Max Kuhns (SV, 7) recorded consecutive outs — both to right field — to earn the save.

Santa Clara led 5-1 after the third inning, and Bronco starting pitcher Jason Seever (W, 3-1) posted three straight 1-2-3 frames. He allowed two earned runs on six hits with two strikeouts and three walks in 6.1 innings of the winning effort. Hawai'i used six pitchers, including starter Patrick Martin (L, 1-1), who allowed four runs (two earned) in 2.0+ innings.

Ryan Budnick and Austin Fisher hit back-to-back doubles for the Broncos (10-12) to give the visitors a 1-0 lead in the second. Santa Clara added to the early edge on the strength of RBIs from four straight batters in the third. Stevie Berman walked in a run with the bases loaded and the Broncos bookended a Kert Woods RBI single with sacrifice flies from Jake Brodt and Budnick.

Hawai'i added single runs in the third and seventh; Jacob Sheldon-Collins put the hosts on the board with a sac fly and Kekai Rios hit an RBI double four innings later. Four Rainbow Warriors posted multiple hits in the loss; Rojas and Rios led the team with three apiece. 

Nick Medeiros took over for Seever with one out and a runner on second in the seventh. Medeiros issued a walk and followed with two straight outs to preserve a three-run lead. He pitched through a leadoff double by Sheldon-Collins in the eighth and struck out the final two batters he faced. 

Santa Clara returns to the mainland to face San Jose State Wednesday night at 6 p.m.

GAME NOTES: First pitch was at 1:06 p.m. … time of the game was 3:03 … attendance was 2,398.

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