{"id":9718,"date":"2026-05-27T18:08:58","date_gmt":"2026-05-27T18:08:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=9718"},"modified":"2026-05-27T18:08:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-27T18:08:58","slug":"big-ten-tournament-mulivai-levu-plays-hero-again-as-ucla-baseball-stuns-usc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=9718","title":{"rendered":"Big Ten Tournament: Mulivai Levu plays hero again as UCLA baseball stuns USC"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

OMAHA, Neb. \u2014 A slow start put UCLA behind the eight ball for the second consecutive day, but the cardiac kids from Westwood mounted yet another dramatic comeback Saturday afternoon in Omaha, shocking USC 7-5 in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal.<\/p>\n

Read more UCLA earns No. 1 seed for NCAA baseball tournament<\/a><\/p>\n

Mulivai Levu followed up his late-night heroics Friday with a two-out, walk-off, three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday. One night earlier, the junior from Ocean View High in Huntington Beach delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly to propel the Bruins past Purdue.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was trying to hunt a fastball over the plate, and it ended up being middle-in,\u201d Levu said. \u201cI kind of got a little jammed on it, but found the barrel at the same time. I was just hunting the fastball the whole at-bat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Time and again, UCLA manager John Savage has been impressed by his first baseman in high-leverage moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cA lot of times, it feels like he\u2019s almost swinging a paddle,\u201d Savage said. \u201cLike, it\u2019s a flat paddle. He\u2019s so flat, he\u2019s in the zone a long time, that\u2019s what I mean by that. It\u2019s a flat swing. It\u2019s almost like the bat\u2019s flat, but it\u2019s not, obviously. It\u2019s just a real special swing, he has special hand-eye coordination, and he\u2019s got power from foul pole to foul pole.\u201d<\/p>\n

Top-seeded UCLA (50-6) will play in the Big Ten championship game at noon PT Sunday in Omaha, against second-seeded Nebraska or third-seeded Oregon, which are playing their semifinal game Saturday night. To no one\u2019s surprise, Nebraska fans have packed Charles Schwab Field, as their Cornhuskers attempt to win their third consecutive Big Ten Tournament.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s victory marked UCLA\u2019s ninth come-from-behind victory of the season when trailing after six innings. The club took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning when leadoff batter Dean West blasted a two-run homer, his sixth long ball of the season.<\/p>\n

Down to its final three outs and trailing 4-3, fourth-seeded USC (43-15) mounted a comeback of its own in the top of the ninth inning, loading the bases with nobody out. Isaac Cadena hit a sharp ground ball to first, which Levu fielded and threw to second base. UCLA was able to get only one out on the fielder\u2019s choice, as Adrian Lopez came around to score and tie the game at 4.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

The next hitter, Jack Basseer, delivered a clutch sacrifice fly to center field, scoring the game\u2019s go-ahead run.<\/p>\n

Read more Dodgers cap successful road trip with victory over Brewers<\/a><\/p>\n

The crosstown rivals played just one regular-season series, with UCLA outscoring USC 31-16 in a three-game sweep in early April at Jackie Robinson Stadium.<\/p>\n

USC starting pitcher Grant Govel held UCLA\u2019s potent offense to just two runs over 4\u2154 innings, allowing six hits and no walks and striking out one.<\/p>\n

Govel even gritted through a nasty stinger on a comebacker in the bottom of the fourth inning. UCLA\u2019s Will Gasparino drilled a screaming line drive \u2013 with an exit velocity of 112 mph \u2013 into Govel\u2019s back. The battle-tested sophomore was unfazed, keeping UCLA\u2019s top-ranked offense in check.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Behind Govel, USC led for the majority of the game. An RBI single from designated hitter Augie Lopez put USC up 1-0 in the top of the first inning. Lopez tacked on another run for the Trojans in the top of third with another RBI single, then came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Cadena for a 3-0 lead.<\/p>\n

USC chased UCLA starter Michael Barnett in the fifth inning, its three runs coming off eight hits and one walk.<\/p>\n

As it has been known to do, UCLA chipped away at the lead. Levu remained hot, banging home an RBI single in the bottom of the third, cutting the deficit by a run. The Bruins got another run back in the bottom of the fourth, thanks to a hit from designated hitter Dominic Cadiz.<\/p>\n

Projected No. 1 overall MLB draft pick Roch Cholowsky had a quiet day, going 0 for 5. The Bruins shortstop is just 1 for 9 through two Big Ten Tournament games. He\u2019ll hope to leave his mark on the Big Ten title game Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got to move in and out on Cholowsky,\u201d USC manager Andy Stankiewicz said. \u201cWe\u2019ve competed against him for a number of years now. So, you can\u2019t get caught in the same rhythm with him, the same pitching plan. You\u2019ve just got to move it around. I think our pitchers did a decent job today of coming in and going back away, and that\u2019s how you\u2019ve got to face him. He\u2019s awfully good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Dodgers activate Kik\u00e9 Hernandez<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One day after driving in the winning run against Purdue, Levu launches a 3-run homer in the bottom of the ninth for a 7-5 semifinal victory over the Trojans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9718","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-based-on-facts-either-observed-and-verified-directly-by-the-reporter-or-reported-and-verified-from-knowledgeable-sources","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\nBig Ten Tournament: Mulivai Levu plays hero again as UCLA baseball stuns USC - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=9718\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Big Ten Tournament: Mulivai Levu plays hero again as UCLA baseball stuns USC - 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