Omaha, Nebraska.
The goal of every college baseball player.
And now the Bruins – for the first time since 2019 – are just two wins away from making that dream a reality.
Just a year removed from a 19-33 campaign, UCLA baseball is preparing to host its fourth super regional in program history. And if UCLA can defeat UTSA in this weekend’s best-of-three series, the Bruins would return to the Men’s College World Series for the first time in 12 years.
“It’d be special,” said coach John Savage on Wednesday. “It’s special every time you go there. It’s like the playoffs in Major League Baseball and the World Series. … I always think of the program, and the players, and their families and the alumni.”
Savage, in his 21st season with the program, holds the best postseason record of all Bruin coaches at 49-27.
But Savage knows a trip to Omaha is far from guaranteed.
The 2019 Bruins went 52-11, were the country’s No. 1 team for 11 weeks and received the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA tournament. UCLA dropped just one series all season, but it came courtesy of Michigan in a super regional at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
“We’ve had some really good teams. Some have gone to Omaha and some haven’t,” Savage said after losing to the Wolverines in 2019. “This is our best team that hasn’t gone to Omaha – and you know we’ll be back.”
But that team wouldn’t be back.
COVID-19 cut the 2020 season short after just 15 games, and UCLA fell in the regional final in 2021 and 2022 before missing the national tournament entirely in 2023 and 2024.
It’d take a completely different crew to make it back in 2025 – and their success sings a different tune.
While the 2019 team posted a staff ERA of 2.60 and had an ace in MLB second-rounder Ryan Garcia – who posted a 1.44 ERA with 117 strikeouts – UCLA has a 4.53 ERA in 2025 with no clear No. 1 arm. Three Bruin pitchers started a Friday game in the regular season – none of whom were junior right-hander Michael Barnett, who started the team’s regional opener last week.
Instead, it’s been UCLA’s offense carrying the 2025 team. Slashing .297/.413/.473, the current squad holistically beats the 2019 Bruins, who slashed .287/.375/.468. And that’s not to suggest the 2019 team was weak at the plate – it boasted four future Major League position players.
The Bruins, however, will need to best the Roadrunners to make it back to Omaha. While some may see the unseeded, unranked mid-major opponent as unassuming, UTSA defeated No. 2 seed Texas for the second and third time this season in last week’s Austin regional to qualify for its first super regional in program history.
“They’re definitely not a team to sleep on. It’s not like they’re surprisingly coming out of nowhere and beating teams. They’ve had a good year, and we’re expecting to come back and attack at them,” said sophomore right-hander Cal Randall, who’s allowed just one run across 3.1 innings of work this postseason. “It’s our field. We’re going to make sure that they know that.”
While UCLA’s starting lineup regularly features seven sophomores, UTSA’s lineup is mostly composed of seniors, with six starting in their regional final. Savage added that he wasn’t surprised to see the Roadrunners make the super regional. Although age can bring experience, this is uncharted territory for either side.
Ironically, Wylan Moss – arguably the Bruins’ best pitcher – has been a freshman this season. Though the right-hander has pitched just twice since May 2 due to a back issue, Moss retired all 10 batters he faced in May 25’s Big Ten tournament championship and struck out four through three shutout innings Sunday before surrendering two runs in the fourth.
While Savage said the All-Big Ten Freshman Team honoree is still working back to the level he was at starting off the season, Moss will be available come Saturday.
And though Roch Cholowsky has been named the Big Ten Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year – and was named a Dick Howser Trophy finalist Thursday – the sophomore shortstop never said individual accolades were what motivated him to pursue a college baseball career.
A trip to the Men’s College World Series was.
“I’m honestly not trying to make it bigger than it is. It was kind of a lot, Sunday night, to wrap my head around what was really happening. Probably didn’t hit me until I laid my head on the pillow that night that we’re that close,” Cholowsky said.” But, it’s been a great ride, and I’m grateful for everything that’s happened leading up to it. And I’m just excited that we put ourselves in a good spot to get back there.”
The Bruins are knocking on the door to Omaha once again.
And it’ll be up to them to turn the handle.
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