The comeback kids did it again, and UCLA baseball is somehow still alive.
Trailing Virginia Tech by two runs in the ninth, the nation’s No. 1-seeded Bruins got a pair of back-to-back, season-saving homers from Mulivai Levu and Roman Martin and a walk-off single from Phoenix Call to earn a 6-5 victory over the Hokies in the Los Angeles Regional’s elimination bracket that the packed crowd at Jackie Robinson Stadium will never forget.
“Sorry I was late, I was talking to my cardiologist,” UCLA coach John Savage said to reporters with a grin.
The Bruins avoided becoming the first No. 1 overall seed in NCAA tournament history to be swept from regionals since the current format was implemented in 1999. And it took everything for UCLA to earn its 29th come-from-behind win of the season.
“Credit to Virginia Tech,” Savage said. “I thought Virginia Tech really handled themselves professionally over the last two days. Gave us a very, very competitive game today. Credit to our guys for being resilient [and] staying with one another. We’ve had several games like that; we really don’t want to play games like that.
“At this time of the year, you’re flirting with fire, and you’re walking the tightrope a lot of times. But it is playoff baseball, so we are used to that … live another day.”
UCLA (52-7) will play Saint Mary’s, the team it lost to on Friday, at 1 p.m. PDT Sunday. Virginia Tech (30-26), which lost its regional opener to Cal Poly, was eliminated.
“I think the past two years, we’ve kind of developed an identity. We call it ‘The 789,’ and so when the seventh inning comes around, we kind of just treat it as a new game,” Call said. “So whether you’ve had a good day or bad day, it’s a brand new opportunity, and I think that’s why we’re so resilient, and that helps with our comeback wins.”
UCLA pitcher Cal Randall reacts after striking out a Virginia Tech batter in the seventh inning of the Bruins’ 6-5 win in the Los Angeles Regional at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Saturday.
(UCLA Athletics)
Hokies second baseman Ethan Ball hit what seemed to be a winning solo shot to right field in the eighth off UCLA right-handed reliever Zach Strickland, sending Virginia Tech’s dugout — and loyal fans who made the cross-country trek — into a frenzy and the Bruins’ faithful into silence. Hokies designated hitter Hudson Lutterman then drove in another run on a single in the ninth.
But left-handed pitcher Madden Clement, typically Virginia Tech’s mid-week starter, surrendered the pair of solo shots to tie the score 5-5. Right-handed pitcher Ethan Grim took the loss after giving up Call’s game-ending hit, which drove in Will Gasparino from third.
“It’s the trust and the love we have for each other,” Martin said. “When you’re so bought into winning, you’re just trying to do it for your guys in the dugout. It gets rid of any anxiety that you have.”
The Bruins remained calm in a shootout that featured seven solo home runs. UCLA hit four — from Cashell Dugger in the fourth, Gasparino in the fifth and Levu and Martin in the ninth. Virginia Tech hit three — from Owen Petrich in the fifth, Ethan Gibson in the seventh and Ball in the eighth.
However, no homers were as important as the final two.
“I got a pitch middle,” Martin said of his homer, noting he received a scouting report from Levu as he touched home on the first of back-to-back, ninth-inning blasts. “The guy [Clement] made a mistake, and I got a good swing on it.”
UCLA right-handed starting pitcher Michael Barnett surrendered three runs on three hits through six innings, the most he’s thrown this season. Virginia Tech starter Brett Renfrow gave up two runs on five hits over four innings.
“Barnett was excellent,” Savage said. “I thought it was the best game he pitched all season.”
Bruins right-handed reliever Easton Hawk (7-3), meanwhile, earned the win despite surrendering a run in the ninth.
Right-handed starter Angel Cervantes and his mini triceratops, Jerry, are expected to take the mound for UCLA on Sunday at 1 p.m. PDT.
