UCLA Wins Big Ten Baseball Tournament presented by IFS.ai

Photo by Mark Kuhlmann

OMAHA, Neb. – No. 1 seed UCLA secured its first Big Ten Baseball Tournament championship with a 3-2 win over No. 3 seed Oregon in extra innings Sunday at Charles Schwab Field Omaha.

Phoenix Call was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and two out in the bottom 11th, pushing across Roman Martin for the winning run. It marked the third-straight walk off win for the Bruins (51-6), who added the tournament title to their regular season crown to complete the Big Ten Double.

UCLA was down to its last out in the ninth when Aidan Espinoza singled home Payton Brennan to force extra innings. Oregon (40-16) opened a 2-0 lead with back-to-back home runs from Bruke-Lee Mabeus and Naulivou Lauaki in the sixth inning. The 11th-ranked Ducks placed five players on the all-tournament team.

UCLA first baseman Mulivai Levu was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after recording a walk-off home run in the semifinals and a walk-off sacrifice fly in the quarterfinals.

With Sunday’s win, UCLA receives the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The NCAA Selection Show will air at noon ET Monday on ESPN2.

Most Outstanding Player
Mulivai Levu, UCLA

All-Tournament Team
P – Shane Brinham, Michigan
P – Cal Scolari, Oregon
P – Will Sanford, Oregon
C – Noah Miller, Michigan
1B – Mulivai Levu, UCLA
2B – Dylan Drake, Purdue
SS – Henry Kaczmar, Ohio State
3B – Drew Smith, Oregon
OF – Angel Laya, Oregon
OF – Will Gasparino, UCLA
OF – Mic Paul, Washington
DH – Naulivou Lauaki Jr., Oregon