In its second walk-off victory this postseason, the Menlo baseball team used stout defense and timely hitting in the ninth to rally past visiting Oakland Tech 3-2 in the CIF-Div. V NorCal semifinals at Menlo on Thursday.

Senior third baseman Garrett Tran drove in the winning run in the ninth to send Menlo to the CIF-NorCal ChampionshipThe game was knotted 2-2 in the bottom of the ninth when Menlo senior Garrett Tran singled on a hard line drive to center, and junior Luke Rogers, who led off the ninth with a double, ran across home plate and bolted to center field with his teammates to celebrate.

“When we started shutting them down on defense, it felt like there was a momentum shift, and every inning after, we were that much closer to getting some runs,” Tran said.

Top seed Menlo will host No. 2 Woodland Christian in the NorCal Championship at 4:00 pm Saturday.

Knights junior Ben Salama threw seven innings, allowing an unearned run on three hits, striking out five and walking one in seven inningsThe Bulldogs opened the game with a run in each of the first two innings, and held a 2-0 advantage until the sixth inning.

Menlo, which has made a pattern of coming up big in the middle and late innings, tied the score at 2-2. Knights sophomore Jack Freehill, who walked to reach base, scored on an error. Chuck Wynn, also a sophomore, scored Tran to tie the game.

Knights junior Ben Salama allowed just three hits and struck out five in seven innings. In the seventh, he delivered a strikeout, a groundout before sophomore Jackson Flanagan leapt to make a catch in left forthe final out.

Knights senior Ryan Schnell threw two shutout innings for the nine-inning winMenlo senior Ryan Schnell came on in the seventh and delivered two shutout innings for the victory.

“The momentum aspect is so important,” Tran said. “When you get a 1-2-3 inning, it really fuels your offense.”

Rogers finished with a pair of hits, including a double. Knights senior Jake Sonsini also doubled.