No. 1 UCLA baseball saves season with 3-run rally in the 9th

LOS ANGELES — UCLA Bruins baseball has not lost consecutive games in 2026.

The No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA baseball tournament kept that trend and their season alive on Saturday — along with any hope of reaching Omaha — with a ninth-inning rally that eliminated Virginia Tech, 6-5.

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It was win or go home for both teams following losses in their respective Los Angeles regional openers.

Down by two heading to their last chance against the Hokies, the Bruins (53-7) bashed back-to-back home runs to tie it before second baseman Phoenix Call’s game-winning single brought in Will Gasparino.

Chasing Hokies reliever Madden Clement with no outs in the 9th, Mulivai Levu began the three-run rally at Jackie Robinson Stadium by crushing his 18th homer to right. Roman Martin then did the same over the left field wall for his 9th.

Gasparino kept up the pressure, beating out an infield single to shortstop against pitcher Ethan Grimm. A hit-and-run single by Dominic Cadiz sent Gasparino to third. The lanky Bruins center fielder, who was suspended for Friday’s game, came home when Call — a platoon second baseman to begin the year who started in center field on Friday — lined his second hit of the game to left.

On the heels of becoming the first top seed to lose an opening match against a four-seed, UCLA leaned into its late-game heroics to avoid ignominious history.

“I think the past few years we kind of developed an identity,” Call said. “We call it the ‘7, 8, 9.’ And so when the seventh inning comes around we kind of treat it as a new game. Whether you’ve had a good day or bad day, it’s a brand new opportunity and I think that’s why we’re so resilient with our comeback wins.”

UCLA entered the NCAA tournament after rallying for three straight wins to capture the Big 10 tournament. Because of their defeat on Friday, UCLA must win four straight anyway they can get them to advance to the NCAA Super Regional.

They meet the winner between Cal Poly San Luis Obispo or Saint Mary’s College, which beat UCLA 3-2 in the opening game, on Sunday.

Attempting to jump ahead instead of playing another nailbiter, the Bruins loaded the bases with one out in the first inning, but Hokies starter Brett Renfrow pitched out of the jam.

The Hokies broke through in the third inning when Sam Grube’s line drive cleared leaping shortstop Roch Cholowsky to bring in Owen Petrich.

After striking out with the bases loaded in the first, Gasparino then popped out to strand a pair of runners in the third.

UCLA eventually flexed its muscles to snatch a short-lived lead in the bottom of the 4th.

Catcher Cashel Dugger hammered the first pitch he saw over the 370 sign in right field to make it 1-1. One out after Dugger’s fifth home run of the year, Call connected on a ground-rule double on his 2-for-4 afternoon. Right fielder Jarrod Hocking followed up with a two-bagger off the top of the wall in left for a one-run lead.

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Cholowsky flew out to the warning track in center and Levu lined out to second to end the threat. After going 0-8 in a 3-2 loss to Saint Mary’s on Friday, Cholowsky and Levu went 2-7 against the Hokies with three walks.

Renfrow, who gave up two earned runs and five hits, was pulled after the 4th.

The bottom portion of the UCLA lineup picked up the slack, slugging two homers among the six hits and four RBIs from the 6-9 spots.

“We’ve had a long lineup throughout this season,” Bruins manager John Savage said. “When we were playing really, really well it felt like we had nine tough outs. Today it felt like that again.”

Losing 6-2 to Cal Poly in a lackluster effort on Friday, a spirited Virginia Tech tied it 2-2 with two outs in the top of the 5th when Petrich, the No. 9 hitter, smoked a ball over the wall in left center.

In the bottom half of the inning, Gasparino stepped up to the plate, with the bases empty this time, and drilled an opposite-field home run to take a 3-2 lead.

Another solo blast tied it at three apiece in the 7th when Hokies infielder Ethan Gibson covered the deepest part of the park and chased Bruins’ starter Michael Barnett after 6+ innings.

Barnett allowed three earned runs on three hits after 86 pitches, striking out five.

“Barnett was excellent,” Savage said. “I thought it was the best game he pitched all season. He pitched with his fastball.

“I wanted to get through the seventh with him.

“I thought Mike earned it. He’s a captain. He’s a senior. He told me he wanted that inning. I believe in my players and I listen to my players.”

After a scoreless inning of relief from Cal Randall, Virginia Tech snatched the lead again in the 8th when second baseman Ethan Ball slammed the first pitch he saw from reliever Zach Strickland over the wall in right. It was Ball’s team-leading 17th home run of the year.

At the top of the 9th, the Hokies (30-27) extended the lead to 5-3 when a single off the end of the bat by Hudson Lutterman scored Ethan Gibson, who doubled off reliever Easton Hawk.

However, against these Bruins, who have learned to savor late-game opportunities, a two-run deficit wasn’t enough to end their sensational season.

“This is a credit to our guys for staying resilient and standing with one another,” Savage said. “We’ve had several games like that. We really don’t want to play games like that at this time of the year. You’re flirting with fire and you’re walking a tightrope a lot of times. But it is playoff baseball so we are used to that.”

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