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.
The runs may not have been coming at the same pace, when UCLA scored a season-high 10 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 — 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.
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.
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.
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.
Freshman right-hander Easton Hawk, who recently had been pegged as UCLA’s closer, hurled a shutdown ninth inning to earn the save. As the Bruins celebrated on the field, it signaled a truth heading into Sunday afternoon — UCLA is one win from Omaha and the College World Series.
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