DAVIS, Calif. — Three wins on the year already – and three comebacks.
 
The Santa Clara University baseball team bounced back Saturday to even its non-conference series on the road at UC Davis with a come-from-behind, 7-5, win in extra innings at Dobbins Stadium.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Santa Clara's (3-2) comeback was powered primarily by a five-run third inning after it had already fallen behind, 2-0. But the win wouldn't have been possible if not for the herculean relief effort on the mound by defending West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week Max Bayles (1-0).
   
• Bayles entered in the fifth inning and pitched through the 10th, earning his first victory of the season with 5 1/3 innings thrown –one out short of tying his career high. He allowed only one run on three hits, and most of all – he struck out a career-high 12, just six days after he struck out a then-career-high nine in his last outing versus CSUN on Sunday.
   
• Santa Clara put Bayles in victory lane with a go-ahead, two-run single in the top of the 10th, breaking a 5-5 tie. Back-to-back leadoff singles by Payton Lambert and Andrew Rayment – Rayment's, a well-placed intended sacrifice bunt that got him on safely – and a sac bunt from Malcolm Williams put two runners in scoring position. That's when Johnny Luetzow brought them home with his fourth hit of the series, a two-run single up the middle to give SCU a 7-5 lead.
   
• Bayles took care of everything else from there, pitching a perfect bottom of the 10th with two strikeouts. Bayles retired the last four batters he faced and eight of the last 10 – six of those on Ks. Bayles struck out at least one batter in every frame he pitched in, including a single strikeout to end the fifth when he had entered the game with two outs already on the board.
   
• Two leadoff singles and a four-pitch walk loaded the bases for the Broncos in the third and got their comeback rally going. Mateo Garcia got the scoring started with a game-tying, two-run single on the first pitch he saw. Williams followed with a go-ahead RBI single, making it 3-2 and extending his hitting streak to 12 games. Max Ross brought home both Garcia and Williams with another two-run single after Williams had moved into scoring position with a stolen base, putting Santa Clara up, 5-2.
   
• UC Davis (4-2) would not go down without a fight, however. The Aggies got a two-run home run from Gouveia an inning later to make the score, 5-4, where it stayed for the next three innings. It was Gouveia again who'd finally pull UCD back even in the bottom of the eighth, singling home J Murphy to tie it at 5-5. Murphy was the only runner Bayles allowed to get past first base.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 11: Shortstop Ben Cleary singled in the second inning, extending his active reached base streak to 11 games, dating to last season.
• 12: Williams' 1-for-4 day extended his active hitting streak to 12 games, including each of SCU's first five games in 2025.

COMING UP

• The rubber game of the series is scheduled for a 1 p.m. start Sunday. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.