NCAA super regionals: UCLA baseball surges late to win Game 1

Texas San Antonio wasn’t going to be a team UCLA could walk over.

Just a week ago, the Roadrunners made a mockery of the Austin Regional — scoring 26 runs across three games — and took down No. 2 Texas twice on the Longhorns’ home turf. Their greeting to the Bruins on Jackie Robinson Stadium on Saturday night was just as loud.

American Athletic Conference Player of the Year Mason Lytle sent Michael Barnett’s second pitch of the game into no-doubt territory beyond the left-field wall for a home run. UTSA’s dugout poured onto the field in response — earning an early warning from the umpires. A straight steal of home from Roadrunners left fielder Caden Miller in the second brought even more juice from the road support. Down 2-0, the Bruins were shell shocked, in need of a response.

“They jumped on us, no question about it,” UCLA coach John Savage said. “You know it’s going to be a dogfight. Every game is going to be a dogfight from the end of the season until the end of the year.”

The runs may not have been coming at the same pace, when UCLA scored a season-high 19 in the opening game of regionals, but the hits kept on rolling like they did a week ago. UCLA tallied 10 hits and six walks — scoring two runs in the third and one in the fourth to take the lead — but stranded 13 on base, toeing the line of nail-biting baseball to win 5-2.

Leading 3-2 with two outs in the eighth, it wasn’t until sophomore third baseman Roman Martin connected for a two-RBI triple that the Bruins could breathe. He waved his arms in celebration as Bruins fans behind the third-base dugout led an “eight clap” for the first and only time Saturday.

“You can get overly excited in these situations,” said Savage, one win from his first trip to Omaha since leading UCLA to the College World Series crown in 2013. “That’s lesson No. 1. Rule No. 1. A lot of baseball left this weekend. We understand that — that game really could have gone either way.”

UTSA still hit the ball all over the ballpark, as it did against Texas, but Barnett relied on his defense to limit the damage. He tossed six innings of two-run ball, giving up six hits, walking none and striking out one.

Barnett has steadily climbed in the Bruins’ rotation since his freshman campaign. He was a midweek starter in 2023, a Sunday starter in 2024. Now he’s the pitcher Savage uses to set the tone for the Bruins in the postseason.

“It’s obviously a huge privilege to be able to start these big games for us and set the tone,” said Barnett, who has 4.02 earned-run average. “A little adversity early on doesn’t matter. This team’s built off adversity.”

It was a clean, defensive clinic from the Bruins. Roch Cholowsky made a slick play in the seventh, fielding a hard ground ball to his left and throwing to first off-balance from behind second to help reliever Jack O’Connor toss a scoreless inning. Catcher Cashel Dugger handled dropped-third strikes from righty August Souza to make it smooth sailing in the eighth.

“They did the fundamentals a little bit better than us, and it’s that time of year,” UTSA coach Pat Hallmark said. “I just tip my hat to UCLA.”

Bruins first baseman Mulivai Levu doubled down the line to score Dean West for the Bruins’ first run. Cholowsky then managed to score on a ground out to third by Martin, tying the score 2-2.

An inning later, West drove in a run on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly after three UCLA singles to give the Bruins a 3-2 lead.

Savage pointed out his team’s collective offensive effort and how the Bruins didn’t rely on Cholowsky to carry them. He said Martin, West, Payton Brennan and AJ Salgado have improved, adding, “This is not a one-man show.”

Freshman right-hander Easton Hawk hurled a shutdown ninth inning to earn the save. In a bullpen that’s been in flux all year long, mixing in different relievers in late innings, Hawk has emerged as the team’s closer.

“He’s come in and pounded pretty good with multiple pitches, and you clearly see his talent,” Savage said of Hawk, who has given up just one run over his last 10 appearances. “That end of the game is no joke, and that’s only built for certain guys, and we felt that he could handle it.”

As the Bruins celebrated on the field, after Hawk ended the game with a strikeout, it signaled a truth heading into Sunday — UCLA is one win from booking a flight to Omaha.