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UCLA dominated its home Super Regional this weekend in Los Angeles, and now the Bruins have earned a ticket back to Omaha to play for another college baseball national championship.
After erasing an early deficit in a 5-2 victory in Game 1 on Saturday, UCLA left absolutely no doubt on Sunday in a 7-0 victory over UTSA that clinched the Super Regional without needing a deciding Game 3 on Monday.
Clinging to a 2-0 lead heading into the top of the 8th, the Bruins finished things off with a bang by adding 2 runs in that 8th inning and 3 more runs in the 9th to cruise to a home-field celebration. UCLA pounded out 12 hits in the clinching shutout and was helped by 2 Roadrunner errors.
UCLA takes a glossy 47-16 record to Omaha and will be making its 6th College World Series appearance and first since 2013. That 2013 team was a special one in Bruins baseball lore, as it delivered the program its only baseball national championship. Now, 12 years later, UCLA will be in the 8-team fight to capture another banner.
The Bruins, who were also the runners-up in Omaha in 2010, got a combined shutout from 5 pitchers on Sunday, with UCLA pitching recording a combined 9 strikeouts. Right-hander Landon Stump began the parade of great Bruins pitching on Sunday, tossing 4 shutout innings and allowing 4 hits with 1 walk and 5 strikeouts.
UCLA got multiple-hit games from 3 players on Sunday, headlined by center fielder Payton Brennan, who went 3 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 2 RBI. Every hitter in the Bruins’ lineup except 1 had at least 1 hit, as UCLA had its way with UTSA for the 2nd straight day.
Now, it’s off to Omaha again and another shot at the ultimate glory in college baseball.
CWS@UCLABaseball is off to Omaha for the first time since 2013, when it won it all. #B1GBaseball pic.twitter.com/5HJP1VuSaA
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) June 8, 2025
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
