SANTA CLARA, Calif. — A pair of strong outings from two true freshman pitchers and a collection of advantageous at-bats carried the Santa Clara University baseball team to a 5-3 win over UNLV Sunday in the finale of the teams' non-conference series at Stephen Schott Stadium.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Jackson Cook (1-1) threw just 51 pitches while no-hitting UNLV (9-3) across five shutout innings to earn the first win of his collegiate career. He struck out three and faced the minimum, only walking one and hitting one batter. A double play and a throw-out from catcher Mace Wheeler to catch a runner trying to advance on a wild pitch kept Cook at the minimum faced.
   
• Fellow freshman Nick Chow relieved Cook and carried the no-hitter into the seventh for the Broncos (5-6). A misplayed ball in left to open the inning allowed a runner to reach second, but Chow struck out the next batter and retired the following hitter on one pitch. Nin Burns II — who entered 0 for 11 with eight strikeouts in the series — broke up the no-hitter with a two-out RBI single to left, making it 4-1. Chow finished with 2 1/3 innings and three strikeouts, allowing one earned run (two total).
   
• Santa Clara scored all five runs without a base hit. Three sacrifice flies, an RBI fielder's choice and back-to-back balks accounted for the scoring. The Broncos loaded the bases with one out in the first and took a 1-0 lead on Luke Devine's sacrifice fly. They loaded the bases again with no outs in the fifth and extended the lead to 3-0 on a sacrifice fly from Max Ross and an RBI fielder's choice from Will Anderson, giving Cook's no-hitter breathing room.
   
• Andrew Rayment was nearly handed a run in the sixth. He beat out a first-pitch, two-out infield single, moved to second on a failed pickoff throwing error by UNLV reliever Tate Foxson and scored on consecutive balks by Foxson to make it 4-0. After UNLV pushed across its first run in the top of the seventh, Anderson answered with a sacrifice fly in the bottom half to make it 5-1.
   
• UNLV wasn't done, however. As they had done all series, the Rebels rallied late, getting a one-out, solo home run from Gunnar Myro and a two-out RBI single from Drew Barragan in the eighth to pull within two at 5-3.
   
• The Rebels tried to make it déjà vu all over again for the Broncos in the ninth. Burns II drew a leadoff walk, and Hertel singled to put runners on the corners with one out, bringing up Taylor — Friday night's hero who hit a game-tying home run with two outs and an 0-2 count in the ninth — as the go-ahead run. Cooper Lanz worked Taylor to an 0-2 count again, but this time he grounded into a game-ending 5-4-3 double play, sealing the victory and Lanz's first save of the season.
   
• The Broncos collected eight hits and drew six walks. SCU's 7-8-9 hitters combined to go 3 for 8 (.375) with three walks and two runs scored, including true freshmen Waylon Walsh at third base and Wheeler behind the plate. UNLV's Felix Ong (0-1) took the loss after allowing three runs on five hits and four walks.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 6: Ben Cleary extended his hitting streak to six games Sunday and his reached base streak to 12 games dating back to the final game of the 2025 season.
• 29: Thomas Ferroggiaro's reached base safely streak was extended to 29 games with a leadoff walk in the first. He's reached base multiple times in nine of 11 games this season.

COMING UP

• Santa Clara hits the road next week for only the second time this season when it travels to SEC member Oklahoma for a four-game series starting Thursday. Fans can find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.