ATHERTON — Menlo-Atherton got 13 strikeouts from Texas-bound ace George Zaharias and a jaw-dropping grand slam in the bottom of the seventh from Rowan Kelly to force extra innings.

But on a day of wild momentum swings, St. Francis managed to break its three-game losing streak.

The Lancers won the non-league thriller 9-8 on Saturday when a slumping starter, Jason Benson Jr., hit a two-out pinch-hit single to knock in two in the visitor’s half of the eighth and reliever Landon Kim got the final out in the home half of the inning with the tying and winning runs on base.

St. Francis, which hadn’t won since sweeping a doubleheader at home against De La Salle on April 4, improved to 11-8.

M-A fell to 11-5.

“It’ll never be easy to break the sort of streak we were on,” St. Francis coach Matt Maguire said. “We made it hard on ourselves. Let’s be honest. We made a lot of mistakes and that’s kind of what we’ve been doing lately. That’s on us as a coaching staff to make sure those mistakes don’t happen.

“But we were able to overcome it.”

They overcame it when Maguire, his team reeling after Kelly’s grand slam, called on the 6-foot-6, 240-pound Benson with the bases loaded and two out in the eighth.

Benson, who had gone hitless since March 24, fell into an 0-1 hole before punching the ball through the left side of the infield for a two-run single that broke a 7-7 tie.

As the big fella ran to first base, he let out an emotional growl while his teammates celebrated.

“I wasn’t really thinking anything, just put the bat on the ball,” Benson said. “I hit a fastball, low and inside. Got my hands to it early and hit it through the hole. They’re a very good team. They came to play, and we had to match that intensity. We did. We kept battling back.”

In a way, Benson epitomized what St. Francis has been going through.

“This kid had started every game for us this year,” Maguire said. “He was in a little bit of a slump with the bat. Hadn’t played in the last couple. Sat around all day. Didn’t hang his head or do any of those sorts of things and came in and got that hit for us. He has been struggling and got everything off his chest right there. Super proud of him.”

Benson, standing next to Maguire as the coach spoke, was asked how it felt to hear those comments.

“A loss for words,” he said. “Makes me a little emotional, but it’s a good feeling.”

The game began with front-line starters on the mound as Zaharias matched up against Baylor-bound Jack Surdey.

Zaharias allowed a run in the first and another in the third. Surdey yielded an unearned run in the first but didn’t give up a hit until the fifth when M-A strung together three in a row to take a 3-2 lead.

Trevor Heinz’s double evened the score 2-2 and Kelly’s triple broke the tie.

Zaharias, whose fastball reached the mid-90s, got stronger as the game moved along. He struck out four in the fifth (one reached on a throwing error) but didn’t come out for the sixth because his pinch count reached 102.

“That’s usually how I feel; I feel better as the game goes along,” said Zaharias, who struck out 17 in his previous start and 16 in the start before that one. “After my guys put up a run, I just felt I had the best guys behind me and I could just work and not worry about them making bad plays or not getting guys. They just worked, and I worked with them.”

St. Francis pulled even on a fielding error in the sixth and scored four in the seventh to grab what seemed like a commanding advantage.

But M-A loaded the bases for Kelly, a transfer from Bellarmine, St. Francis’ West Catholic Athletic League rival.

“This is my moment,” he told a teammate and coach. “This is my moment.”

It was, indeed.

The UC Santa Barbara commit unloaded, sending a home run soaring over the left-field fence that sent a charge through the Bears’ dugout and a moshpit after Kelly’s trip around the bases.

“I got to that 2-0 count and had a swing that felt good,” Kelly said. “I know he was predominantly pounding fastballs. Got one middle out and stayed with it. Drove it the other way and it left the field. That’s what baseball is. Still lost. Got work to do this next week before we head into league again.”

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St. Francis returns to WCAL play on Tuesday at St. Ignatius. M-A visits Carlmont in a Peninsula Athletic League Bay Division game Wednesday.

If anything, Saturday’s thriller got both teams ready for the season’s home stretch.

“Down 7-3, it seriously felt like it was 7-6,” M-A coach Jordan Paroubeck said. “That’s been the whole season. Regardless of the score, up or down, it’s like we’re in this all the time.”

Maybe, M-A will get another shot at St. Francis come playoff time.