As the 15th seed of sixteen regional hosts, last years’ Bruin squad barely managed to secure home field advantage for the NCAA tournament.
On the other hand, this year’s team had no reason to be concerned.
No. 1 overall seed UCLA baseball (51-6, 28-2 Big Ten) was selected as an NCAA tournament regional host Sunday evening after holding onto its top ranking over 57 games played – en route to posting the best record in college baseball.
After securing the Big Ten championship last weekend, the Bruins will return to Westwood for the double-elimination portion of the tournament.
No. 1 UCLA will host No. 2 seed Virginia Tech (30-24, 15-15 ACC), No. 3 seed Cal Poly (36-22, 22-8 Big West) and No. 4 seed Saint Mary’s (34-25, 15-12 WCC), which the Bruins will play Friday to kick off their tournament run.
Despite entering the tournament as the top overall seed, the Westwood squad required clutch performances to eke out all three of their wins in the Big Ten tournament – all of which came in walk-off fashion.
“It goes to show that we’re never out of the ballgame,” said junior catcher Cashel Dugger. “We’re just going to keep on playing to the last pitch.”
Despite a penchant for executing in clutch situations, the highly-decorated UCLA offense struggled to gain momentum throughout the three contests, accumulating just 14 runs over the three contests – a far cry from its season average scoring mark, which exceeds an average of eight runs per game.
However, refinding offensive momentum in the regional tournament rounds is something the Bruins already know about.
After being shut out by Nebraska in last seasons’ Big Ten championship, UCLA’s offense rebounded by scoring 38 runs in its three regional games, including 19 in its opening contest against Fresno State.
Unlike last season – where they had already played two of their three opponents during the regular season – the Bruins will be largely unfamiliar with any of their three prospective opponents. They have never played the Hokies, haven’t seen the Mustangs since last season and haven’t faced the Gaels since 2021.
Nevertheless, none of the three squads enter the tournament with prestigious pitching staffs. Virginia Tech is ranked 224th in the nation in ERA while Cal Poly and Saint Mary’s are ranked 58th and 120th, respectively.
“We had some good ABs (at-bats),” said redshirt junior right fielder Payton Brennan after UCLA’s 3-2 walk-off victory against Oregon on Sunday. “They can’t always fall. So we try to string good ABs and hard contact together. If we lose with hard contact and quality ABs, we’re gonna lose.”
Despite working without ace junior right-hander Logan Reddemann – who is still a week away from returning said coach John Savage Thursday – throughout the Big Ten tournament, the UCLA pitching staff held their own to give the offense opportunities to come back into the game.
In the Big Ten championship game against No. 15 Oregon, the pitching staff gave up just two solo home runs in eleven innings of work.
Right-handers freshman Angel Cervantes and sophomore Easton Hawk put together eight scoreless innings in the contest, striking out 10 Ducks and allowing just eight baserunners.
The two underclassmen have both rebounded from struggles earlier this season to find some of their best form in recent appearances. Cervantes has allowed just one earned run in his last five appearances and Hawk hasn’t allowed an earned run since March 8.
His recent performances has allowed Cervantes to earn the role of UCLA’s third starter, taking the place of junior right-hander Landon Stump, who has been relegated to the bullpen.
Filling out the rotation, Savage said that sophomore right-hander Wylan Moss will continue in Reddemann’s role as the Bruins’ first starter while senior right-hander Michael Barnett will remain as the second starter, a role he has held the entire season.
“He (Cervantes) was not ready three-four months ago to be a weekend starter,” Savage said. “In terms of Angel, it’s really been a fun progression. It’s really the epitome of development, of not rushing a guy with high expectations.”
UCLA will also be without star junior center fielder Will Gasparino, who will miss the first game of the regional after being ejected from the contest against Oregon for malicious contact.
Savage said that junior Phoenix Call, who usually plays second base but has seen plenty of time in the outfield, will play centerfield in Gasparino’s place.
“We’re just focused on our regional,” Brennan said. “After that, we’ll see what happens. But we’re just going to stay present and focus on Saint Mary’s tomorrow.”
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