SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The Santa Clara University baseball team brought the tying or go-ahead run to the plate in the sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth innings Wednesday, but a late home run and resilient relief pitching by visiting Stanford helped the Cardinal hold on and escape with a 6-4 non-conference win at Stephen Schott Stadium.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Santa Clara's Luke Devine nearly tied the game in the bottom of the ninth with one swing, crushing the first pitch he saw to the warning track in right-center field. But Stanford right fielder Brock Sell was able to reel it in for the second out of the inning. Max Ross started the ninth reaching second base on an error, giving the Broncos (14-25) three consecutive at-bats with the tying run represented at the plate. But the Cardinal's Kassius Thomas was able to navigate through the frame, recording a strikeout, that flyout by Devine, and a groundout up the middle to secure his first save of the year.
   
• Mateo Garcia led off the bottom of the eighth with a first-pitch double. He'd eventually score after a groundout and a wild pitch to make it 6-4 in favor of Stanford (18-19). Kai Cunningham drew a four-pitch walk after that, bringing the tying run to the plate, but he was stranded on a groundout back to the pitcher.
   
• Brady Reynolds made some first-pitch magic of his own for the Cardinal in the top of the eighth. Reynolds entered as a pinch hitter and went opposite field on the first pitch he saw for a two-run home run, giving Stanford some cushion with a 6-3 lead.
   
• The combination of Cohen Gomez, Mike Erspamer, Trevor Moore and Thomas got the Cardinal through the game's final three innings. Gomez allowed a run in the seventh after allowing a one-out infield single to Mace Wheeler. Erspamer tried to get the Cardinal out of it, but he, too, gave up a single to Max Ross, putting runners on first and second with only one out in a 4-2 game. He'd surrender an RBI double to Devine, making it 4-3, before Moore replaced him and stranded the tying and go-ahead runs in scoring position with a groundout.
   
• Freshman Matthew Tiendas hit his first career triple with two outs in the sixth with the Broncos trailing, 4-2, but he was stranded there after a strikeout ended the inning. Santa Clara went 1 for 16 (.063) Wednesday with runners in scoring position and 4 for 22 (.182) with runners on base anywhere. The Broncos stranded nine runners, seven in scoring position.
   
• Five Broncos pitchers turned in scoreless outings. Trevor Banning, Jack Lazark and Sebastian Schreiber all threw one scoreless inning. Nick Chow and Cooper Lanz both threw 1 1/3 shutout frames. Nine different Broncos recorded hits, with five of them going for extra bases (four doubles, one triple).
   
• Teddy Tokheim (2 for 4, double, walk) and Jimmy Nati (2 for 4, run) led the Stanford offense. Rintaro Sasaki reached base four times with three walks and his 13th home run of the season, a solo shot in the third that made it 4-0 Stanford at the time. Brock Ketelsen (1-1) earned the bullpen-day victory for the Cardinal, throwing three shutout innings and only allowing one hit with three strikeouts to start the game. Andrew Habermann (0-1) took the defeat after allowing three runs on two hits and two walks in the second inning.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 8: Devine has hits in eight of his last nine games (since April 6). He has 12 hits in that span while batting .316 with 10 RBIs, four doubles and a home run.
• 10: Tiendas' sixth-inning triple was the Broncos' 10th triple of the season, tying them for the WCC lead with Saint Mary's and San Diego.

COMING UP

• Santa Clara continues its home stand with a three-game West Coast Conference series versus Portland starting Friday. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.