SAN BRUNO, Calif. — Santa Clara University baseball sophomore relief pitcher Max Bayles made it 2 for 2 Monday, earning his second Rawlings West Coast Conference Pitcher of the Week award in as many weeks on the young season, this time for the week of Feb. 17-23 after leading the Broncos to another victory behind yet another career high in strikeouts.
 
Santa Clara came from behind and won in extra innings Saturday at UC Davis, but the win wouldn't have been possible if not for the herculean relief effort on the mound by Bayles. 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 Feb. 16. In total, Bayles retired 16 batters – 12 of them by strikeout.
 
Santa Clara put Bayles in victory lane Saturday with a go-ahead, two-run single in the top of the 10th, breaking a 5-5 tie. 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.

San Francisco's Patrick Keighran (Player) and Eddison Esquivel (Freshman) were the other WCC award winners of the week, along with Bayles.
 
Bayles and the Broncos continue their first road trip of the season Tuesday at San Jose State, then wrap it up Friday and Saturday as part of a home-and-home four-game series with California, starting with two games in Berkeley. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.