Nine hours and 20 minutes after the originally posted game time, junior first baseman Mulivai Levu put a bow on the never-ending day.
The Bruins had to wait an eternity for a celebration, but it was well worth it.
No. 1 seed UCLA baseball (49-6, 26-2 Big Ten) defeated No. 5 seed Purdue (37-20, 18-12) 4-3 in walk-off fashion in the Big Ten tournament quarterfinal round Friday night at Charles Schwab Field Omaha in Nebraska. The Bruins secured their eighth victory of the season after trailing in the seventh inning or later.
With the score tied 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth, the Boilermakers committed consecutive errors to put two Bruins aboard. After a bunt from junior left fielder Dean West advanced the runners, Purdue opted to intentionally walk junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky and face Levu with the bases loaded.
With one out, the team leader in RBIs lifted a fly line drive into right field, plenty deep enough for senior pinch runner Jarrod Hocking to tag up from third base and seal the victory.
“We know seven, eight and nine are our innings,” Levu said. “We just need to chip away and get one run an inning to win. (Innings) one through five were drowsy, the whole message was to wake up. Put together quality at-bats and try to get on base.”
But the path to the walkoff did not come easily.
The game was initially slated for a 1 p.m. Central Time first pitch, but rain delayed the morning matchup between USC and Michigan State, pushing back UCLA’s matchup against Purdue until 7 p.m.
After losing 8-4 to No. 12 seed Michigan State in the tournament opener Tuesday, Purdue won consecutive games over No. 9 seed Illinois and No. 8 seed Iowa to keep their playoff hopes alive and fight back into the winners’ bracket. The two victories put the Boilermakers in a position where a victory over the Bruins would likely clinch a regional spot in the NCAA tournament, kicking off next weekend.
A first-round bye gave the Bruins nearly a week off, but they looked more rusty than rested amid the early inning showers and looming rainbow.
Levu made a two-out error to extend the second inning, and consecutive walks from sophomore right-hander Wylan Moss loaded the bases. Yet, Cholowsky managed to track down a ground ball deep in the hole, throwing across his body after checking third base to escape the jam unscathed.
The mistakes continued to pile on in the third inning, this time proving costly for UCLA.
Moss hung a slider on the first pitch of the inning, hit hard down the left field line for a leadoff single. After another slider over the plate managed to find junior Will Gasparino in center field for a hard line out, Moss lost control of a fastball, hitting Boilermaker right fielder Sam Moore in the elbow. A third mistake over the plate – this time a changeup – was blasted into right field by third baseman Sam Brown to put Purdue ahead 1-0.
The lead would quickly double, as Brown attempted to steal second base and junior catcher Cashel Dugger sailed the ball into center field, allowing Moore to score easily from third base.
Having used their primary starting three pitchers to reach the quarterfinals, the Boilermakers opted for a bullpen game started by Thomas Howard. The right-handed relief pitcher was expected to cover just two to three innings. But with each inning he held the Bruins scoreless, the leash kept extending.
Howard held the Westwood squad to just one hit and three baserunners in five innings, relying on precise pitch locations and a slider with elite horizontal movement to silence one of the Big Ten’s premier offenses.
And while Howard was dealing, Moss could not find his stride.
The Tustin, California, local walked three batters and hit one in just 3.1 innings, marking the shortest of his five appearances since transitioning into the starting rotation. The right-hander threw just eight of 19 fastballs for a strike, instead relying primarily on his changeup, which he threw 31 times for six swing-and-misses.
But with a bye also came a well-rested bullpen.
Redshirt senior Ian May entered for Moss in the fourth inning, inducing a weak flyout and a strikeout on an elevated fastball to strand shortstop Westin Boyle at second base. The southpaw would cover the next frame and earn two outs in the sixth, providing UCLA with critical length beyond Moss.
“They had the momentum early so I just tried to come in and slow things down, get the momentum back on our side,” May said.
Cholowsky led off the bottom of the sixth inning with an infield single, ending Howard’s evening on a career-high five innings and 83 pitches. Levu worked a walk against closer Jake Kramer, and a wild pitch moved the pair up on the basepath. The Bruins would plate their first run on a sacrifice fly from redshirt junior right fielder Payton Brennan.
But the Boilermakers immediately responded.
Center fielder Brendan Rodgers took a high-and-in fastball from junior right-hander Cal Randall just over the left field fence, and the deficit returned to two.
With a regional berth on the line, the Boilermakers rode with Kramer as far as he would take them. He retired eight consecutive hitters after walking Levu, but the Bruins would finally strike with two outs in the eighth.
Levu roped a two-strike single off of Kramer between the Boilermakers’ first and second basemen. Junior third baseman Roman Martin continued the two-strike barrage, launching a fastball deep into left-center field off the top of the wall.
Umpires originally ruled the ball a home run, but replay review promptly overruled the call on the field, instead giving Martin a triple. Brennan would once again come up with a critical RBI, lacing a single into left field to tie the game at three.
Savage turned to closer Easton Hawk for the ninth inning, who worked around a walk to keep the score tied.
And the Bruins proved once again that they can not be counted out until the final out is called.
“We’re excited to be back in this tournament at this field and hope to be back here in a few weeks,” May said.
