UCLA-UTSA Game 2 Los Angeles Super Regional Preview
The UCLA Bruins are now one win away from making their first Men’s College World Series appearance in Omaha, Nebraska since 2013 after defeating UTSA 5-2 in game one of the Los Angeles Super Regional.
The Bruins take on the Roadrunners in game two Saturday, June 8, at 12 p.m. PT at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
The Roadrunners took an early lead on UCLA, scoring a run in the first two innings. This is opposite the trend the Bruins were accustomed to in the Los Angeles Regional round. UCLA took the lead in the first two innings in each of their three matchups last round.
However, it didn’t take long for the Bruin offense to wake back up. The Bruins scored two runs in the third inning and took the lead in the fourth on a Dean West sacrifice fly with the bases loaded.
Starting pitcher Michael Barnett shoved six innings with great efficiency despite giving up two early runs. Coach John Savage sang his praises after the win.
“Michael [Barnett] was really good, that was a really good start for us,” Savage said. “To go six innings in a super-regional game, 75 pitches, very efficient. They clearly jumped on him. A guy hit the ball out of the ballpark on a 1-0 pitch. They’re very offensive, and it was one of those nights where we threw strikes. That’s always a good sign. The bullpen threw strikes, and the counts were good. Our defense was really good. I just look at it as one game and there’s a lot of baseball left.”
Despite a great win and their opening-round momentum refusing to subside, Savage isn’t ready to let his squad get complacent.
“It’s one game,” he said. “You can’t get overly excited in these situations, and rule number one is that you don’t. There’s a lot of baseball left this weekend. We understand that. That game could have gone either way. We left some guys on base; they did a really good job of putting pressure on us. They pitched out some problems.”
This Bruins squad has a chance to be historic. The program hasn’t made it to Omaha since 2013, which is when it won its only College World Series title.
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