ATHERTON, CA – Walk. Off.

Punctuating a particularly hot day at the plate, Menlo NCBA Baseball triumphed in dramatic fashion over No. 1 Santa Clara on Saturday, scoring 21 total runs with the last coming in walk-off fashion from the bat of junior Joseph Salmeron to cap a 16-15 extra-inning victory following the Broncos' 11-5 win in game one at Cartan Field.

Game One: #1 Santa Clara 11, Menlo 5
Junior Israel Garcia pitched around a triple in the first inning, but the Broncos came through with two runs in the second before the bottom of the frame saw a leadoff walk by junior Aidan Mitchell soon followed by a run-scoring double from freshman Ashley Geary-Smith to halve the SCU lead to 2-1.

Four unearned runs came home for Santa Clara in the third, but Menlo got one back in their half on a single by Salmeron the brought in freshman Ryan Wilson.

Senior Billy McKinzey tossed a scoreless fourth and promptly doubled in his subsequent at-bat then both sides scored twice in the sixth and the Oaks would load the bases in the seventh, plating one more on a Geary-Smith sacrifice fly before the 11-5 end result.

Game Two: Menlo 16, #1 Santa Clara 15 (8)
Up 2-0 after two frames of the second contest, Santa Clara doubled that lead in the third, but Menlo rallied back in the bottom of the inning, scoring twice on wild pitches then junior Matthew Puahi-Kapololu and Mitchell connected on back-to-back run-scoring singles to tie the game up 4-4.

The Broncos regained their advantage with two in the fourth, however, the Oaks came right back with two in their half including clutch singles by freshmen Cayden Miramontes and Wilson to help give Menlo the 7-6 lead. That gave way to SCU's three-run answer in the fifth (to the visitors ahead 9-7) and another in the sixth, but a wild pitch with the bases loaded was promptly followed by Wilson's two-run double, Salmeron's double to bring in the go-ahead run, then a steal plus an error scored Salmeron for a 12-10 lead in the bottom of the sixth.

Santa Clara once again rallied in the next inning, plating three for the 13-12 advantage which did not last long as Wilson struck again for the game-tying single to bring in freshman Oscar Reyes in the seventh. Though Menlo then got the potential winning run into scoring position, he would not touch home, sending the game into extra innings.

There, SCU moved in front for the fourth time in the contest at 15-13, but the Oaks countered yet again in bottom of the eighth with a McKinzey run-scoring double, the game-tying run on a Miramontes single with the bases loaded, and ultimately it was Salmeron, also stepping in with the bases full of Oaks, who delivered the walk-off single to right before being mobbed by celebrating teammates at first base in the 16-15 marathon victory.

Up Next…
Finishing the series tomorrow, Menlo hosts the Broncos from Oak Grove High School in San Jose at 4 p.m.