SANTA CLARA, Calif. — A showdown of two of the nation's best pitchers lived up to the billing Friday night at Stephen Schott Stadium, and one big inning sent the Santa Clara University baseball team on its way to victory, as the Broncos topped visiting Portland, 6-3, in the teams' West Coast Conference series opener.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• Two National Pitcher of the Year Award Semifinalists took the mound Friday, with Santa Clara's Max Bayles squaring off against Portland's Will LaBonte. The matchup delivered through the first four innings — LaBonte allowing just one run on four hits, two of which were infield singles, while Bayles surrendered two runs on back-to-back two-out base hits in the third.
   
• LaBonte would outlast Bayles, who exited after 4 2/3 innings and 92 pitches, in part due to a season-high-tying four walks. But LaBonte didn't last much longer, getting chased in the seventh after surrendering back-to-back doubles on just three pitches — the second off the bat of Waylon Walsh to tie the game at 2-2.
   
• That sparked a go-ahead five-run rally for the Broncos (15-25, 4-12 WCC). The biggest blow of the frame came from Max Ross, who doubled off the right field wall on the second pitch he saw from Portland reliever Morgan Codron, clearing the bases and putting Santa Clara ahead 5-2. Johnny Luetzow followed with another second-pitch base hit — a shallow single to center field — scoring Ross and stretching the lead to 6-2.
   
• RJ Meyn (2-3) earned the win with a season- and career-long-tying 4 1/3 innings of work. He struck out a career-high six, including all three Portland batters in the ninth — all looking — to close out the game. Meyn left the bases loaded in the fifth with a strikeout to keep the Pilots' (22-17, 8-8 WCC) lead at just 2-1. He allowed only one run in the eighth on an RBI groundout after the Broncos had taken control, with Cole Katayama-Stall scoring to make it 6-3.
   
• Walsh's third home run of the year — a solo shot in the second inning — gave Santa Clara an early 1-0 lead. Portland answered with a two-out rally in the third, stringing together a walk, an RBI double that split the left-center gap and an RBI single that dropped in the same gap to take a 2-1 lead.
   
• Ross led the way offensively, going 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs. Walsh was right behind him, going 2-for-4 with a home run, double, two RBIs and two runs scored. Will Anderson also went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored. Santa Clara's 6-through-9 hitters combined to go 5 for 12 (.417) with four runs scored, three doubles, two RBIs and a home run.

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 4: Bayles tallied four strikeouts Friday and now sits just four away from tying for 10th all-time on Santa Clara's career strikeouts list. He has accumulated 235 career strikeouts across three seasons with the program.
• 10: Bayles and Meyn combined for 10 strikeouts — the 17th time this season the Broncos' staff has reached double digits in a game. Santa Clara is 8-9 in those contests.

COMING UP

• Game two is scheduled for 1 p.m. Saturday. Fans can purchase tickets and find all live coverage links on SantaClaraBroncos.com.