OMAHA, Neb. — The stage is officially set at Charles Schwab Field as No. 1 UCLA and No. 3 Oregon punched their tickets to the Big Ten Tournament Championship game with semifinal victories on Saturday in Omaha.
The Bruins continued their season-long flair for dramatic comebacks, erasing another late deficit behind a walk-off blast from Mulivai Levu to survive rival USC and keep one of the most historic seasons in college baseball history alive. Meanwhile, Oregon took a far different route, overpowering Nebraska behind dominant pitching and a barrage of timely extra-base hits to roll into Sunday’s title game.
Now, the conference’s top seed and one of its hottest teams will meet with the Big Ten Tournament crown and an automatic NCAA Tournament bid on the line.
Levu Hangs It in the Louvre
No. 1 UCLA once again proved why it has spent the entire season atop the college baseball world, storming back late to defeat No. 4 USC 7-5 in dramatic fashion Saturday afternoon at Charles Schwab Field.
After trailing for most of the game and falling behind again in the ninth inning, the Bruins delivered yet another comeback, their 27th of the season, when Mulivai Levu crushed a walk-off three-run homer to right-center field in the bottom of the ninth.
USC jumped ahead early behind RBI hits from Adrian Lopez and a sacrifice fly from Isaac Cadena to build a 3-0 lead. UCLA slowly chipped away with RBI singles from Levu and AJ Cadiz before briefly taking a 4-3 lead in the seventh inning after West launched a two-run homer to right field.
The Trojans answered in the ninth with two unearned runs against standout closer Easton Hawk, appearing poised to finally hand UCLA its first Big Ten Tournament loss. It ultimately did not matter.
Levu’s second walk-off of the Big Ten Tournament sent the Bruins pouring out of the dugout and into the championship game, adding another chapter to one of the greatest seasons in college baseball history.
UCLA became the first team in Division I history to go wire-to-wire as the unanimous No. 1 team in the country throughout an entire regular season and enters Sunday with a dominant 50-6 overall record, including a 28-2 mark in Big Ten conference play, back-to-back Big Ten regular season titles, and the nation’s second-best ERA at 3.31. Under head coach John Savage, the Bruins continue finding new ways to win.
Ducks Silence Huskers
The second semifinal could not have looked more different.
While UCLA needed ninth-inning heroics, No. 3 Oregon simply dominated No. 2 Nebraska from start to finish in an 8-0 shutout victory Saturday night in front of a crowd of 12,083, most of whom were backing the Huskers.
Oregon starter Will Sanford delivered one of the best pitching performances of the tournament, allowing just two hits over six shutout innings while striking out nine. The sophomore retired the first 10 Nebraska batters he faced, seven by strikeout, and finished the night with his 100th strikeout of the season, becoming just the sixth pitcher in Ducks history to reach the milestone.
The Ducks backed Sanford immediately. Ryan Cooney opened the game with a leadoff double before Drew Smith drove him in with a groundout to give Oregon a first-inning lead.
From there, the power took over.
Maddox Molony and Angel Laya launched solo home runs in the fourth and fifth innings before Oregon broke the game wide open with a four-run seventh inning. Smith ripped a two-run triple into the right-center gap before freshman Brayden Jaksa blasted a two-run homer, his second homer of the day after also going deep earlier against Washington.
Nebraska never found offensive rhythm against Oregon’s pitching staff, managing just two hits all night as the Ducks rolled into the championship game looking every bit like a legitimate threat to the nation’s top-ranked team.
Championship Game Set
Sunday’s Big Ten Tournament Championship game is officially set as No. 1 UCLA and No. 3 Oregon will battle at Charles Schwab Field with the conference tournament title and an automatic NCAA Tournament bid on the line.
UCLA enters riding comeback magic and one of the most historic seasons in college baseball history, while Oregon arrives after overpowering Nebraska behind elite pitching and explosive offense.
First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. ET / 2 p.m. CT / 1 p.m. MT / 12 p.m. PT on the Big Ten Network.
