The UCLA baseball team announced on May 28 that it will host the NCAA Los Angeles Regional at Jackie Robinson Stadium, welcoming Virginia Tech, Cal Poly, and Saint Mary’s. The Bruins, ranked No. 1 in the country for the entire regular season, will open play against Saint Mary’s at noon Pacific Time on Friday, May 29. Games will be broadcast on the ESPN Family of Networks, with Roxy Bernstein and Wes Clements providing commentary.
UCLA finished its regular season with a 48-6 overall record and a Big Ten-record 28 conference wins. The team became the first in college baseball history to maintain a wire-to-wire No. 1 ranking throughout an entire regular season across all major polls. Head Coach John Savage was named Big Ten Coach of the Year for guiding UCLA through one of its most dominant seasons, including setting a program record for regular-season wins and achieving a school-best 27-game winning streak.
During the Big Ten Baseball Tournament, UCLA secured three consecutive walk-off victories to claim its first conference tournament title. Key performances included Mulivai Levu’s walk-off sacrifice fly against Purdue and his three-run walk-off homer versus USC in the semifinals. In the championship game against Oregon, Aidan Espinoza tied it in the ninth inning before Phoenix Call was hit by a pitch with bases loaded in extra innings to seal victory.
Several players contributed significantly during both regular season and postseason play. Roch Cholowsky was named Big Ten Player of the Year for a second straight year after leading the conference with 21 home runs while maintaining strong defensive performance at shortstop. Easton Hawk emerged as one of college baseball’s top relief pitchers with 14 saves and no earned runs allowed over his last 24 appearances.
UCLA led all Big Ten teams with nine All-Conference honorees this year and swept every weekend series during league play—an achievement matched only by Oregon State nationally this season. The Bruins also set records for most hit-by-pitches in program history as Cholowsky reached base via HBP twenty-four times.
The Bruins’ dominance extended into postseason action last year as well: Payton Brennan delivered key hits during their run through regionals and super regionals while Roman Martin earned Most Outstanding Player honors at third base following multiple home runs that helped propel UCLA deep into tournament competition.
