UCLA
45-16
UC Irvine
43-17
Bruins Down UC Irvine, 8-5, to Win Los Angeles Regional
June 02, 2025 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES – The No. 15-seeded UCLA baseball team built an early eight-run lead and used that cushion to record an 8-5 victory over UC Irvine in Sunday night's NCAA Los Angeles Regional Final at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
With the win, the Bruins (45-16) advance to the Super Regional round for the first time since 2019 and seventh time overall since the NCAA moved to its current postseason format in 1999.
"I'm clearly very proud of our team and our guys, winning 19 games last season and coming back to the mid-40s," said Head Coach John Savage. "It's just the team, they're playing together. We jumped out on them with an 8-0 lead and they didn't go away. It was a good win, and we move on to the next round. I was very proud of our team, proud of our program, proud of my coaches, who did a great job of putting this team in the position to have so much success."
UCLA will host UTSA at Jackie Robinson Stadium for Super Regionals after the Roadrunners upset No. 2 Texas in the Austin Regional. Dates and start times for the Los Angeles Super Regional have yet to be announced by the NCAA.
The Bruins scored the first eight runs of Sunday's contest, including a decisive five-spot in the top of the fourth – UCLA was serving as the visiting team due to tournament rules despite hosting – highlighted by a three-run home run from sophomore first baseman Mulivai Levu.
The first three batters of that frame all reached despite the ball not traveling more than about 15 feet from home plate, as sophomore catcher Cashel Dugger worked a leadoff walk before sophomore second baseman Phoenix Call reached on four straight balls and leadoff man Dean West planted a bunt down the third base line that went for an infield single.
It looked like the Bruins might get a grand slam from the ensuing batter, Big Ten Player of the Year Roch Cholowsky, but his high fly ball was caught at the wall in left field for a long sac fly.
The Bruins were able to cash in all those runners though as Levu provided the biggest swing of the game on a 1-1 offering from UCI pitcher Danner Suarez, lining it the opposite way over the fence in left-center field for a three-run bomb that made it 7-0 at the time. UCLA would end up tacking on another run before the inning expired after Roman Martin walked, moved to third on an AJ Salgado bloop single, and scored on a sac fly from Payton Brennan.
Levu was one of three Bruins with multiple knocks on Sunday. West was 2-2 and reached base in all five of his plate appearances, and Brennan went 2-3 with a double.
UC Irvine would go on to score in three straight innings starting in the bottom of the fourth to make it a close game down the stretch, but the Bruin bullpen ultimately shut the door in the late innings.
UCI's best chance to draw level came in the bottom of the seventh. Trailing by three, the Anteaters were able to load the bases with two outs to get the go-ahead run to the plate. However, UCLA righty August Souza came through on the biggest pitch of the night, finding the top of the strike zone with a 3-2 fastball that UCI's Blake Penso watched go by for a called strike three.
Souza came up with another inning-ending K in the eighth to erase a two-out walk, and freshman righty Easton Hawk went 1-2-3 in the ninth to seal the win in drama-free fashion.
UCLA ended up using six pitchers in the clinching effort. Freshman right-hander Wylan Moss was strong over a 3 1/3 inning start, striking out four and allowing just two earned runs, one of which came after he left the game.
Sophomore lefty Chris Grothues was awarded the win. He came up with a critical punch-out to end the fourth inning and stem the damage in that frame at just two runs.
UCI was led by cleanup hitter Anthony Martinez, who reached base three times and drove in a pair, and DH Alonso Reyes, who was 2-3 including a solo home run that capped the game's scoring. Relievers Jack Ross and Max Martin combined to throw four scoreless frames to finish out the game. UC Irvine ended its season with a 43-17 record.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Grothues, Chris (3-1)
L: Wall, Finnegan (0-1)
S: Hawk, Easton (6)
Batting:
2B: Brennan, Payton 1
HR: Levu, Mulivai 1
RBI: Cholowsky, Roch 2 ; Levu, Mulivai 3 ; Martin, Roman 1 ; Brennan, Payton 1 ; Dugger, Cashel 1
SH: Balsz, Blake 1
SF: Cholowsky, Roch 2 ; Brennan, Payton 1
Base Running:
RUNS: West, Dean 2 ; Levu, Mulivai 1 ; Martin, Roman 1 ; Brennan, Payton 1 ; Dugger, Cashel 2 ; Call, Phoenix 1
SB: Salgado, AJ 1 ; Brennan, Payton 1
HBP: West, Dean 2
Batting:
2B: Martinez, Anthony 1
HR: Reyes, Alonso 1
RBI: Martinez, Anthony 2 ; Castagnola, James 1 ; Reyes, Alonso 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Call, Chase 2 ; Martinez, Anthony 1 ; Reyes, Alonso 1 ; Carney, Frankie 1
HBP: Bermudez, Will 1 ; Martinez, Anthony 2
