UCLA Baseball Clinches College World Series Bid

Judging from what has happened in L.A. sports the past three weeks, one could convincingly argue that the hottest team in the Southland is NOT on the ice, but on the baseball diamond – and not at Dodger Stadium or at Angel Stadium either.

Riding on a nine-game winning streak, including a dominating 5-0 record in the post season, the UCLA Bruins’ baseball team clinched a berth in the  NCAA College World Series this past weekend, sweeping Texas Christian in the Super Regionals at Jackie Robinson Stadium by scores of 6-2 on Friday and 4-1 on Saturday.

It is the Bruins’ second College World Series appearance in the past three seasons – the last being in 2010 when they reached the championship series – and their fourth overall in program history.

After eight seasons at the helm, John Savage has clearly taken UCLA baseball to the next level as after losing star pitchers Trevor Bauer and Gerrit Cole to the 2011 Major League Baseball draft, 2012 has been a virtual dream season as the second-ranked Bruins currently sport an outstanding 47-14 record, winning the Pac-12 conference title (sharing with Arizona) with a 20-10 mark and cruising through the regionals and super regionals in the process.

“It never gets old (going to the College World Series),” Savage said after Saturday’s 4-1 win. “To come out of the West, I’ve always said, is the most difficult thing in college baseball to do…this team has found their way.”

UCLA’s success has been a true team effort as five Bruins have hit over .300, led by Jeff Gelalich’s .365 average, 11 home runs and 46 RBIs. Catcher Tyler Heineman, infielder Trevor Brown and outfielders Cody Keefer and Beau Amaral also have .300-plus averages, with Amaral’s 45 runs batted in leading the team.

The Bruin pitching staff more than stepped up this year in light of losing Bauer and Cole, with starters Adam Plutko and Nick Vander Tuig winning 11 and ten games respectively, David Berg being absolutely lights out from the bullpen against TCU this weekend, sporting an overall earned run average of 1.58, and Scott Griggs using his considerable size and a fast ball timed in the mid-90s to save 15 games.

Plutko’s 2.56 ERA was outstanding as well, as it was safe to say that UCLA’s pitchers didn’t miss Bauer and Cole nearly as much as they could have.

The most incredible sign of this team success came during Friday night’s super regional game when the Bruins, having taken a 3-2 lead over TCU in the sixth inning after being down 2-1, had first baseman Cody Regis, who was sub-par at the plate all season, hit a double with the bases loaded and two outs, breaking the game wide open and giving UCLA the momentum that clearly carried into the next day as the Bruins went on to sweep the Horned Frogs.

As one of the eight teams in the double-elimination College World Series in Omaha, NE, UCLA will open against Stony Brook, who scored a huge upset on the road over perennial power LSU in that super regional, on either June 15 or 16.

Now the inevitable question arises: What are the Bruins’ chances of bringing their first national championship in baseball – and the school’s NCAA-leading 109th title – back to Westwood?

In my view, UCLA’s on fire right now, doing all the right things – pitching well, being solid in their fielding, and having timely hitting – that good baseball teams need to do fundamentally; except for maybe Gelalich, this team doesn’t have any standout stars, and that will play in their favor in Omaha.

Being that they are seeded/ranked second only to Florida, I feel that the Bruins have a very good shot at winning a national championship, particularly if their outstanding fundamental play continues against Stony Brook, Arizona, Florida, Florida State and the other teams that will compete in Omaha starting this Friday and continuing through next weekend.

Will this Bruin ball club triumph and bring back championship number 109?

One thing is for sure: I’m very much looking forward to finding out.