SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The University of Portland’s baseball team had two separate leads in extra innings, but a two-run home run by Bronco catcher Kris Watts in the bottom of the 14th inning finally gave Santa Clara a 7-6 win on Saturday afternoon in a West Coast Conference game at Schott Stadium.

Daniel Nava started things off for Santa Clara in the 14th with his game-high fourth hit of the contest, a base knock to left field. With a 1-0 count, none out, and Nava on first base, Watts launched his ninth home run of the 2006 campaign to right field off Portland hurler Josh Roberts (2-6).

Justin Kuehn (3-6) allowed one run and struck out four Portland batters in three innings of work to secure the victory for Santa Clara.

Portland had broken open a 5-5 tie in the top of the 14th after an RBI double from Adam Kerr scored Justin Ehlers, who had led off the inning with a double of his own.

After leaving the bases loaded in the top of the 11th, the Pilots took a 5-4 lead in the 12th when sophomore Danny Meier’s RBI single scored Ehlers from second base. But Santa Clara was able to respond in the bottom half of the 12th, scoring the equalizing run off Pilots reliever Joe Jones after an RBI double from Nava scored Matt Long all the way from first base. Josh Roberts replaced Jones and got the final two outs of the inning after walking two batters, one intentionally.

Once again, Jones (pictured) pitched effectively in relief for Portland, allowing just the one run and three hits in four innings of relief. He has allowed just one run in his last 13 innings of work and has nearly halved his season ERA in his last four appearances.

Santa Clara took a quick 3-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning off Pilots starter Ari Ronick. Nava had a single that drove in two runs and Matteucci chipped in with an RBI single.

The Pilots countered with three runs of their own in the top of the third. Senior Matt Peters belted his seventh home run of the season, a two-run shot to right center that also scored Sean Nicol. Travis Vetters scored later in the inning off a Nik Kosach single, knotting the score at three.

Portland took the lead in the top of the fifth after shortstop Jesse Rodgers scored Vetters with an RBI single. Vetters had led off the inning with a double down the left field line. Santa Clara tied up the game in the bottom of the seventh with a sacrifice fly off Ronick, and the score remained at 4-4 until the 12th.

The Pilots hit the ball well on Saturday, with 19 hits to Santa Clara’s 13. Nicol reached base in six of his eight plate appearances and executed successful sacrifice bunts on the other two. Nicol, Vetters, and Kosach each led the Pilots with three hits during the game. Nava led all batters for Santa Clara with a 4-for-6 effort at the plate.

The win improves Santa Clara’s overall record to 28-24 and its WCC record to 9-11. The Pilots fall to 14-33 on the year and 2-15 in conference action. Portland’s record in extra-inning games this season drops to 2-3.

The two teams will finish off the three-game set with an afternoon tilt scheduled to begin at 1:00 p.m.