Bruins top UTSA in Game 1 of Super Regional

The UCLA Bruins are one win away from making it back to Omaha, Nebraska for the Men's College World Series after defeating UTSA 5-2 in game one of the Los Angeles Super Regional series.

The Bruins haven't made it to Omaha since 2013, which was when they won their first and only College World Series title, and are making their first super regionals appearance since 2019.

UCLA starting pitcher Michael Barnett let up two runs in the first two frames of the game but kept the Roadrunners scoreless for the four following innings. Barnett tossed six innings and notches his 12th win of the season.

Unlike each of their three regional round games where they scored within the first two innings of each matchup, the Bruins weren't able to get on the board until the third inning when first baseman Mulivai Levu doubled, bringing in a run.

Third baseman Roman Martin capped off the Bruins' third inning by bringing in Roch Cholowsky from third on a groundout.

With one out and the bases loaded in the bottom of the fourth, Bruins left fielder Dean West hit a sacrifice fly to bring in a runner and give UCLA a 3-2 lead.

The Bruins' bullpen has been a staple in their run in the postseason and they didn't let up. After Barnett's six innings, Jack O'Connor, August Souza and Easton Hawk each pitched one shutout inning and didn't allow a single baserunner to close out the game.

Martin came back up to the plate in the bottom of the eighth to hit a two-run triple and seal the victory for the Bruins.

Coach John Savage noted that it was a quality win but doesn't want his squad to get ahead of itself just yet.

"It’s one game," Savage 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."

UCLA takes on Texas San Antonio for game two at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Saturday at 12 p.m. PT.