Big innings have been a theme for the Bruins all weekend.
And a five-run top of the fourth seemed to position UCLA in cruise control.
But no lead, no matter how daunting, is safe on the road to Omaha, Nebraska.
Not unless you have the pitching staff to protect it.
And with its bullpen tossing a shutout seventh, eighth and ninth, No. 15 seed UCLA baseball (45-16, 22-8 Big Ten) outlasted UC Irvine (43-17, 24-6 Big West) 8-5 to win the Los Angeles regional of the NCAA tournament. UC Irvine played a double-header Sunday, taking down Arizona State in an elimination game 11-6 Sunday afternoon, just to face UCLA later that night.
The Bruins scored first for a third-straight contest Sunday, and Roman Martin was at the heart of the early action yet again. The sophomore third baseman’s RBI single put UCLA up 1-0 in the first, and by the end of the second, sophomore shortstop Roch Cholowsky’s first of two sacrifice flies had the team up 3-0.
And after a five-run top of the fourth – capped off with sophomore first baseman Mulivai Levu’s three-run opposite field shot – the Bruins led 8-0.
“Everyone has a great approach to play,” Levu said. “It’s just kind of hard for the other team to get past this.”
But the Anteaters continued to crawl back, scoring two runs in the fourth and fifth before designated hitter Alonso Reyes’ sixth-inning solo shot cut the deficit to three.
“We jumped out on them,” said coach John Savage. “Eight to nothing lead, and they don’t go away.”
Bruin starter Wylan Moss got off to a fiery start in his first national tournament appearance. The freshman right-hander struck out the side in the first – pumping up the crowd as he hopped off the mound – but seemed to struggle more as the game wore on.
He struck out just one more batter over the remaining 2.1 frames of his start, walking four and being charged with two runs before redshirt sophomore southpaw Chris Grothues limited the damage in the fourth.
But the bleeding didn’t stop until junior right-hander Jack O’Connor and graduate student right-hander August Souza held the Anteaters scoreless in the seventh and eighth.
“He’s (Souza) had a remarkable second half of the season,” Savage said. “He’s just taken the ball and ran with it.”
Meanwhile, the Anteaters found a way to keep the Bruins off the board from the fifth on, with the bullpen striking three out swinging, while securing a myriad of groundouts and a 6-4-3 double play in the top of the eighth.
But freshman right-hander Easton Hawk was the one to end the Anteaters’ season, tossing a perfect ninth with two strikeouts for his sixth save of the season.
With UTSA upsetting No. 2 seed Texas in the Austin regional, the Roadrunners advanced to their first super regional in program history and will face the Bruins, who look in shape to host their first super regional since 2019, barring the NCAA committee’s approval.
“We still got a long road,” Savage said. “We’ll take today off and get back at it on Tuesday.”
