SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Santa Clara University baseball sophomore right-hander Max Bayles earned the season's first West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week award Monday for the week of Feb. 10-16 after helping the Broncos clinch a series victory Sunday.
 
Bayles struck out a career-high nine in only 4 2/3 innings of work Sunday, leading Santa Clara (2-1) to a series-clinching, 8-3, win over CSUN. Bayles entered in the fourth inning and got stronger as he went along, retiring eight of the last nine he faced with five strikeouts. He only allowed one hit and one run to a lineup that had collected 21 hits and scored 15 runs in the series' first two games.
 
The outing was only one inning short of his career long (5 2/3), typically serving as the Broncos' closer/end-of-game pitcher, but was called into duty early on Sunday after SCU's starter didn't record an out in the first inning.
 
Bayles was named to the NCBWA "Stopper of the Year" Award Watch List a week ago after being named to the WCC All-Freshman Team in 2024.
 
LMU's Colby Wallace (Player) and Nate Savoie (Freshman) were the WCC's other winners this week.
 
Bayles and the Broncos hit the road for the first time in 2025 for a three-game series at UC Davis starting on Friday. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.