SANTA CLARA, Calif. (Interstat) — Tyler Alleman pitched six shutout innings and Ben Cleary broke a tie with a solo home run in the seventh as Santa Clara defeated Pepperdine 3-2 on Saturday evening at Stephen Schott Stadium.

The Broncos improved to 25-28 overall, while the Waves fell to 21-32. It was Santa Clara’s third consecutive victory over Pepperdine after winning the first two games of the series by scores of 9-2 and 10-0.

Santa Clara struck first in the bottom of the second inning. Luke Devine singled and later scored on a groundout by Michael Viskovich to give the Broncos a 1-0 lead.

Pepperdine tied the score in the top of the fourth inning. However, no runs were actually scored in that frame. The Waves’ only runs came in the eighth.

In the bottom of the fourth, Devine homered to right-center field, his solo shot making it 2-0 for Santa Clara.

The game remained 2-0 until the seventh. Cleary led off the bottom of the inning with a home run to left-center, extending the Broncos’ lead to 3-0.

Pepperdine finally broke through in the top of the eighth against reliever Josh Johnson. Daniel Patterson hit a two-run homer to left field, scoring Daniel Cook’s pinch-runner, Andrew Bianchina, to cut the deficit to 3-2.

The Waves threatened further in the eighth. Julian Nunez doubled to left and advanced to third on a throwing error, but Cooper Lanz relieved Johnson and struck out Andrew Woodworth to end the inning.

Lanz worked a scoreless ninth, allowing two hits but striking out two over 1⅓ innings, to earn his first save of the season.

Alleman earned the win, improving his record. He allowed two hits, walked none and struck out two in six innings. Alleman’s previous outings had been brief; he had allowed two earned runs in two-thirds of an inning against Seattle on May 10 and four earned runs in 4⅔ innings against Gonzaga on May 3.

Santa Clara’s Devine finished 3 for 4 with a home run, a double and one RBI. Cleary was 1 for 3 with a homer and an RBI.

For Pepperdine, Collin Valentine started and pitched four innings, allowing no hits but two earned runs. He struck out three. Dylan Stewart followed with three innings, giving up one earned run and striking out one. Lucien Wechsberg pitched a scoreless eighth inning.

Patterson was 1 for 4 with the two-run homer. Nunez went 1 for 4 with a double.

The Waves totaled five hits, matching the Broncos’ five hits. Both teams had one error.

Pepperdine’s defense turned a double play in the bottom of the third to escape a potential rally.

Santa Clara left eight runners on base, including a pair in the sixth when Devine doubled and two subsequent batters were hit by pitches. But the Waves got out of the inning with no damage.

The game was a tight pitchers’ duel early, with both starters working efficiently. Alleman allowed only two hits through six innings, retiring the side in order in the first, third and sixth.

Valentine held Santa Clara scoreless in the first and third, but two runs were charged to him in the second on a hit batter and a sacrifice bunt that set up a run-scoring grounder. Valentine also gave up Devine’s homer in the fourth.

Santa Clara’s bullpen combination of Johnson, Lanz and shortstop Cleary’s defensive play held the Waves in check after the eighth-inning homer.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Pepperdine 7, Santa Clara 6, while Interstat’s ELO system gave Santa Clara a 67.00 percent probability to win.