UCLA’s baseball team is never out of a game — or lacking for ways to win in dramatic fashion.
On Friday, it was a walk-off sacrifice fly.
On Saturday, it was a walk-off home run.
The top-ranked Bruins might have topped themselves Sunday with their most improbable finish in the Big Ten Tournament.
A pitch initially ruled to have grazed Phoenix Call with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th inning was reviewed and upheld at Charles Schwab Field in Omaha, Neb., giving the Bruins a suitable ending to this crazy weekend.
Three comebacks in as many days. Three walk-offs in as many days.
Call smiled as he stood on first base and an umpire announced that the call would stand, giving UCLA a 3-2 victory over Oregon and its first Big Ten Tournament championship.
“Once again we came from behind and we did it, so let’s go,” UCLA’s Mulivai Levu told the Big Ten Network after having been the hero the previous two days with a walk-off sacrifice fly against Purdue and a walk-off three-run homer against USC.
UCLA (51-6) has now tallied 28 comeback victories, perhaps none as unlikely as its latest one.
With the Bruins trailing by a run entering the ninth inning, Payton Brennan walked on four pitches, went to second on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Aidan Espinoza’s two-out single through the right side of the infield.
After UCLA closer Easton Hawk completed his third scoreless inning — notching five strikeouts — Roman Martin and Brennan opened the bottom of the 11th inning with back-to-back singles off Oregon closer Devin Bell.
Jarrod Hocking loaded the bases after the Ducks fielded his sacrifice bunt attempt but could not throw out Martin going to third base. Bell then struck out the next two batters before hitting Call to end the game.
There were fist bumps and a few hugs between the teams afterward, ending a string of hostilities that started during a three-game series earlier this month when the dugouts cleared after opposing assistant coaches jawed at one another.
There was more chippiness Sunday.
UCLA shortstop Will Gasparino was ejected in the fourth inning for malicious contact after getting caught in a rundown and bowling over Oregon’s Drew Smith while attempting to return to third base.
Oregon’s Burke-Lee Mabeus earned an unsportsmanlike conduct warning from umpires after he flipped his bat and stared down UCLA reliever Justin Lee following his leadoff homer in the sixth inning. When Naulivou Lauaki Jr. followed with another homer, the Ducks held a 2-1 lead.
It turned out the Bruins had one of their fiercest rivals right where they wanted them.
“Just a lot of fight, you know?” UCLA coach John Savage said of his team’s ability to keep coming back. “I mean, they certainly believe in one another, and we’ve done it all season long.”
What it means
Barring a successful appeal, the ejection of Gasparino, which comes with a one-game suspension, will deprive the Bruins of one of their top players when they open an NCAA Tournament Regional next week.
Turning point
UCLA’s ninth-inning rally included a sacrifice bunt from Hocking, who took Gasparino’s spot in the batting order. Hocking delivered again with his bunt that loaded the bases with nobody out in the 11th.
MVP: Easton Hawk
Hawk’s three scoreless innings earned him the win and served as a huge recovery from his outing a day earlier, when he gave up two runs in the ninth inning to end his 25-inning scoreless streak.
Up next
Widely expected to be the top overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, the Bruins will host a Regional starting Friday at Jackie Robinson Stadium, with their opponents to be announced Monday.
