SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It took until the last-at bat of the final game of the weekend, but Santa Clara was able to prevent the University of San Francisco baseball team from winning its ninth straight game.
 
Mike Bowes hit a walk-off, game-winning three-run home run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, as the Broncos avoided a series sweep with a 9-7 West Coast Conference victory at Stephen Schott Stadium.
 
Santa Clara (12-17, 5-7 WCC) trailed 7-5 heading into the bottom of the ninth and scored four runs to win it. A leadoff walk, a single and a wild pitch put the tying runs in scoring positin. USF reliever Alex Pham was able to get two outs, but a comebacker off his glove resulted in an infield single and made it 7-6.
 
The Dons went to the bullpen and called upon Jesse Barron – who gave up two home runs in the eighth inning Saturday. Bowes proceeded to homer on the second pitch he saw, winning the game for the Broncos and avoiding the sweep.
 
"We flirted with that for two days and it finally bit us," said San Francisco head coach Nino Giarratano. "It's always hard to win three straight on the road anywhere."
 
San Francisco (13-16, 8-4 WCC) allowed six free passes Sunday, a low number for them compared to the rest of the season. Unfortunately for them, three of them scored, and a fourth that reached on one of three USF errors also scored, accounting for nearly half of Santa Clara's runs.
 
The Dons also stranded double-digit runners (10) on base for the second straight day. Seven of the 10 they stranded were left in scoring position. They went 5 for 20 (.250) with runners in scoring position and 5 for 23 (.217) with runners on base overall.
 
"We couldn't get those runs that we needed to put them away," said Giarratano. "Just kind of a rough feel, a ball comes back to the pitcher and bounces off his glove and then a three-run homer to lose the game."
 
Bowes' homer capped a terrific day at the plate for him, going 3 for 3 with two home runs, five RBIs, three runs scored and a walk. The Broncos' top-four hitters in the lineup went a combined 7 for 16 (.438) with six runs scored and six RBIs.
 
San Francisco next travels to Southern California to face first-place San Diego in a three-game WCC showdown starting Friday.
 
"This team has been resilient all year," said Giarratano. :Obviously, we've lost like this four times this year, so it's not like it's foreign land to us. We've gotta do a better job of getting that last out and finishing the game. We'll bounce back."