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Yahoo
4 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
UCLA baseball defeats UC Irvine to advance to NCAA super regionals
UCLA left fielder Dean West, shown here hitting against Fresno State on Friday, had two hits and scored twice in the Bruins' 8-5 victory over UC Irvine in the Los Angeles Regional final Sunday night. (Carlin Stiehl/Los Angeles Times) UCLA baseball is one step closer to earning a trip to Omaha. The Bruins continued to roll in every facet of the game in the Los Angeles Regional final, scoring early and trusting their bullpen to defeat UC Irvine 8-5 on Sunday night. The Bruins advance to the super regionals of the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2019 and will host the Texas San Antonio at Jackie Robinson Stadium this week. Advertisement UTSA defeated Texas 7-4 in the Austin Regional final, taking down the national second-seed Longhorns to advance to its first-ever super regional. If UCLA beats UTSA, it'll advance to the College World Series in Omaha for the first time since 2013. Read more: UC Irvine showcases its power, eliminating Arizona State in NCAA baseball tournament UCLA's offense was just as ready to explode — like they did versus Fresno State and Arizona State — against a depleted UC Irvine pitching staff (with high-leverage bullpen arms Ricky Ojeda and David Utagawa unavailable after pitching earlier Sunday). Rallying for six hits across the first two innings, the Bruins put together three runs thanks to RBI singles from Roman Martin and Cashel Dugger, and a sacrifice fly from Roch Cholowsky. Advertisement UCLA first baseman Mulivai Levu helped place the game in blowout territory — an 8-0 lead — when he connected for a three-run home run in a five-run fourth inning. Much like UCLA had done all weekend, the lineup kept on churning. Freshman Wylan Moss set the tone for UCLA's combined pitching effort. Moss, who entered the contest with a 2.25 earned-run average and an All-Big-Ten Freshman Team recognition, was as good as advertised to stymie UC Irvine, which came off an 11-run offensive showing earlier in the day. The 6-foot-3 righty struck out the top of the Anteaters lineup — Will Bermudez, Chase Call and Jacob McCombs — swinging on change ups. Moss, who had yet to pitch in the NCAA Tournament, was lying in wait for a game of magnitude. He pitched 3 ⅓ innings, giving up two runs and two hits, while walking three and striking out four. From there, a five-pitcher bullpen effort kept Irvine at bay, pitching 5 ⅔ innings of five-run ball the rest of the way to wrap up regional action in Westwood. Advertisement Things got more complicated for UCLA in the sixth, when freshman right-hander Cal Randall gave up a solo home run to UC Irvine designated hitter Alonso Reyes to make it a three-run game, but right-hander Jack O'Connor entered to extinguish the threat — and set down UC Irvine outfielder Chase Call on a fielder's choice to close out the inning. Read more: UCLA baseball crushes Fresno State behind 22-hit barrage in NCAA regional opener It wasn't easy sailing for the Bruins in the late innings. Graduate student right-hander August Souza bailed UCLA out of a bases-loaded jam by freezing the potential go-ahead run, Blake Penso, on a full-count, 87-mph fastball in the seventh. Advertisement When the Bruins needed it the most, Souza struck out two in a scoreless eighth, putting metaphorical champagne on ice in Westwood. Freshman right-hander Easton Hawk tossed a perfect ninth, striking out James Castagnola to end it, prompting the Bruins to run onto the field in celebration. UCLA owned the Los Angeles Regional title. Postseason baseball will remain in Jackie Robinson Stadium for at least one more weekend. Levu led all Bruins with three RBIs, while Cholowsky went one for three with two RBIs from sacrifice flies. Get the best, most interesting and strangest stories of the day from the L.A. sports scene and beyond from our newsletter The Sports Report. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Yahoo
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Fresno State to play top-seed UCLA in Los Angeles regional. Here is when they will play
After winning another Mountain West Conference baseball title in Mesa, Ariz., Fresno State found out on Monday where they will be headed in the NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs will make the trip to UCLA in the Los Angeles Regional. No. 4-seed Fresno State will open the LA Regional against host and top-seed UCLA at 4 p.m. Friday. The other game pits Arizona State against UC Irvine at 9 p.m. The Fresno State and UCLA game will be shown on ESPN+. The Bulldogs (31-27, 18-12 MW) are coming off an impressive run at the MW tournament. Fresno State defeated San José State 7-3, top-seed Nevada 12-7 in 14 innings and the Spartans again, 9-1. The Bulldogs are making their second-straight regional appearance under coach Ryan Overland. The field of 64 teams includes 30 automatic bids and 34 at-large bids selected by an NCAA committee. Los Angeles Regional (Los Angeles) Friday: Game 1: No. 15 UCLA vs. Fresno State; 4 p.m. on ESPN+ Game 2: Arizona State vs. UC Irvine; 9 p.m. on ESPNU Saturday: Game 3: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 Sunday: Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 3Game 6: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 5 Monday: Game 7 (if necessary): Rematch Game 6
