Tanner Atiburcio gave Saint Louis a lead with his bat and made it stand up with a complete-game effort on the mound in the Crusaders’ 5-2 win over second-ranked Mid-Pacific on Saturday.

Atiburcio came up with the bases loaded and two out in the top of the first inning and ripped a double into the left-center gap to give himself a 3-0 cushion to work with when he took the ball in the bottom of the frame. 

The senior right-hander then kept the Owls (8-2) off balance for most of the afternoon to help the eighth-ranked Crusaders (4-5) pick up their first win over MPI in three meetings this season. He spaced five hits, struck out three and walked one in the win.

"Great day for Tanner," Saint Louis coach George Gusman said. "We’ve been looking for a No. 2 pitcher and we thought Tanner would be our guy, between him and (Dawson) Yamaguchi. We gave him a shot today and he pitched very well."

Atiburcio delivered a key double in Saint Louis’ 3-1 win over Kamehameha on Thursday and stayed hot on Saturday by going 2-for-3 with his bases-clearing double in the first inning.

"Felt good to hit the ball finally," Atiburcio said. "I’ve been struggling for a while, just making contact was the key and I found a hole."

Atiburcio managed to work ahead on the scoreboard and on the mound, throwing strikes early in the count and mixing speeds to induce flyouts and popups as the game progressed. He was also aided by double plays in the third and fifth innings.

"He pitched a good game," Mid-Pacific coach Dunn Muramaru said. "Get ahead, that’s the name of the game. If you throw 0-1, 0-2 all the time, (it’s) hard to hit."

After Atiburcio’s double gave Saint Louis the lead in the first, the Crusaders added to it with the short game in the second. With runners on first and third, Taylor Meilluer dropped a bunt and Pono Anderson scored on the sacrifice. 

"At this field, crazy stuff happens when you play Mid-Pac," Gusman said. "So to get three in the first takes them away from doing some things they normally do, so that was big."

MPI answered in the bottom of the second when Sean Kinel doubled and scored on Evan Suemori’s single. Kinel’s sacrifice fly in the fourth cut the Owls’ deficit to 4-2. 

Saint Louis gave Aitburcio more breathing room in the sixth when Mana Manago drew a two-out walk and Keith Torres followed with a triple to right field. 

Aitburcio, following the lead of Anderson’s commanding pitching performance against Kamehameha on Thursday, retired seven straight before giving up a walk with two out in the seventh. But he ended the game with a forceout at second to give Saint Louis its second straight win following a four-game losing streak that included two losses to MPI.

"I think we were pressing somewhat and this is a great confidence booster," Gusman said. "We had some guys carrying us early (in the season) and it’s kind of flipped over and there’s more of them at this point coming up big."

Tanner Atiburcio and Taylor Meilleur. Alex Oley, Noah Sills (2), Chase Wago (6) and Noah Shackles. W–Atiburcio. L–Oley.

Leading hitters–Saint Louis: Keith Torres 2-2, 3b; Atiburcio 2-3, 2b, 3 RBIs. Mid-Pacific: Wago 2b; Sean Kinel 2b.

Punahou 8, No. 4 Kamehameha 7

Jantzen Tamanaha and Allan Dong each drove in three runs as the Buffanblu rallied past the Warriors.

Punahou scored the go-ahead run in the top of the seventh.

Michael Viola, Kekoa Vieira (3) and Matthew Nakamoto, Geoffrey Moore (6), Nakamoto (7). Ladd Ah Choy, Taylor Torres (3), Josh Souza (5), Hunter Breault (7) and Kekai Rios. W–Vieira. L–Ah Choy.

Leading hitters–Punahou: Jantzen Tamanaha 2-4, 2 runs, 3 RBIs; Allan Dong 2-4, 3 RBIs; Kai Terada-Herzer 2-3, 2b, 2 runs. Kamehameha: Rios 2-4, 2b; Codie Paiva 2-4, 2 2bs; Branden Henderson 3-4, 3b, 2 RBIs; Matt Yokota 2b.

ILH Division II 

Maryknoll 4, Pac-Five 2

Neal Nakasone drove in two runs and Joshua Muneno pitched a six-hitter as the Spatans beat the Wolfpack.

Owen Saito and Micah Lum. Joshua Muneno and Neal Nakasone. W–Muneno. L–Saito.

Leading hitters–Pac-Five: Saito 2b; Dayne Ramos 2b. Maryknoll: Nakasone 2 RBIs.

St. Francis 12, Hanalani 1

Ian Phillips and Joshua Ganeku combined on a one-hitter and Sean Fernandez and Jansen Kupau each drove in four runs as the Saints beat the Royals.

Ian Phillips, Joshua Ganeku (5) and Royce Torres. Chad Wakabayashi, Kevin Matsuoka (3), Cyan Garma (4) and Reyn Romero. W–Phillips. L–Wakabayashi.

Leading hitters–St. Francis: Sean Fernandez 3-3, HR, 3 runs, 4 RBIs; Jansen Kupau 2-4, 3b, 4 RBIs.