Saint Louis' Brendan Uchima connects with a pitch for a three-run triple against Punahou. Steve Erler | Special to SL

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WAIPIO — It wasn't easy to come by, but Saint Louis notched its first win of the season over Punahou, 8-7, in an Interscholastic League of Honolulu Division I baseball game Saturday morning.

Ryder Kuhns and Brendan Uchima drove in three runs apiece to lead the Crusaders (7-5) to their fifth consecutive win before a crowd of about 100 fans on a clear day at Patsy T. Mink/Central Oahu Regional Park.

The Buffanblu (4-7) erased a four-run deficit to tie it at 5-all after five innings, but couldn't overcome three Saint Louis runs in the top of the sixth. They got within a run and had the tying run 90 feet from home when the game ended.

Saint Louis, the ninth-ranked team in the ScoringLive/OC16 Power Rankings had dropped both previous meetings against eighth-ranked Punahou this season.

"We wanted to beat them real bad, because they beat us twice and we didn't want to get swept, so we really wanted to beat them," said Kuhns, who batted 2 for 3, including a two-run single in the sixth.

Left-hander Dawson Yamaguchi got the save after pitching the final two innings in relief of starter Pono Anderson, who battled through five innings, but allowed five runs on seven hits. He walked three batters and struck out two to earn the win.

"We weren't missing by much, so we've just got to work through that," Saint Louis coach George Gusman said. "We talked about it and there's no sense whining about balls and strikes, so we've just got to battle through that."

Kuhns looped a double to short right field in the top of the first to score the game's first run in Keith Torres, who went 2 for 4 and scored a pair of runs from his leadoff spot.

The Crusaders stretch their lead to 4-0 on Uchima's three-run triple to the right-center gap. Taylor Meilleur and Travis Tanaka got on base with back-to-back hits. With first base open, the Buffanblu intentionally walked Kuhns — the cleanup hitter — to get to Uchima.

"I was ready for it," said Uchima, a junior third baseman. "I just had to put a good swing on it, hit it hard and it found a place to go."

Punahou got a single run in the bottom of the third to get within 4-1 and two more runs in the fourth to make it 5-3. Jantzen Tamanaha led off the fifth inning with a triple to deep center and scored on Noah Goss' sacrifice fly. Two batters later, Easton Takamoto scored on a Logan Williams single to tie it at 5.

Saint Louis answered in the top of the sixth with three runs to reclaim the lead. Tanaka singled to drive in Mana Manago before Kuhns' double to left field that scored Torres and Ronson Timbreza, who was courtesy running for Taylor Meilleur. The Crusaders sent eight batters and had four hits in the inning.

"I was just looking for something good to hit because we had men in scoring position and I had to bring them in," Kuhns said of his double.

However, the Buffanblu didn't fold, instead getting a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth on a Tamanaha RBI double that scored Heisman Hosoda and a Takamoto RBI single that plated Tamanaha.

Williams drew a walk to start the bottom of the seventh before giving way to pinch-runner Jerick Nomura, who advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Cole Cabrera. Nomura moved over to third after a ground out to the right side of the infield, but was left stranded when Yamaguchi got Andrew Matsueda to strike out looking to end the game.

"He hasn't pitched in a while," Gusman said of Yamaguchi. "He was hurt early in the season and had a pretty good outing, then a not-so-good outing and then got sick earlier in the week — he was supposed to pitch Thursday — so it was great that he came through today."

Torres, Meilleur and Tanaka — the top three batters in the Crusaders' lineup — combined to go 7 for 11 at the plate. DJ Stephens also had a couple of hits and scored a run from the eighth spot.

"Brendan came up big, so did Travis Tanaka and Ryder," Gusman said. "We needed every single hit today. Punahou has probably had — in the two games coming into day — they've had 30 hits against us and at least another dozen today, so I don't know what it is, but this year they're playing really well against us and that's a credit to them."

Tamanaha led the Buffablu offensively with a 3-for-3 day, including a triple, double and three runs scored. Takamoto drove in a pair of runs and batted 2 for 3. Kekoa Viera started on the mound and surrendered five runs on eight hits in four innings of work before giving way to Riley Guieb, who allowed three runs on five hits in three innings and took the loss.

"We fought back — we came back from 4-0, then 5-1, then 5-3 — we battled, they scored a couple more and we got it to 8-7, so we had a chance at the end," Punahou coach Keenan Sue said. "We got behind in the count and they made us pay for it and those guys hit well today. I don't think we beat ourselves, they were just the better team today."

It was the regular-season finale for the Crusaders, who assured themselves of at least a tie for second place behind regular-season champion Mid-Pacific (9-2), which has already punched its ticket to next month's 12-team Division I state tournament.

"This gives us a lot of momentum," Kuhns said. "Hopefully we can just carry this into the ILH tournament and hopefully states."

The Buffanblu conclude the regular season Tuesday against Iolani.