UCLA routs TCU 10-3 to head to College World Series championship

OMAHA, Neb. ““ For the second consecutive day, the UCLA baseball team gave up a run to TCU in the first inning and fell behind early.

On Saturday, however, the Bruins’ counterpunch was swift and straight to the gut of the Horned Frogs.

The UCLA offense scored five runs in the bottom half of the first inning en route to a 10-3 rout that ensured the Bruins a spot in the best-of-three championship series beginning Monday.

“It was good to get back on our feet,” coach John Savage said. “We got back to Bruin baseball today.”

A day after they got a great pitching performance from starter Matt Purke, the Horned Frogs had a forgettable day on the mound. Starting pitcher Kyle Winkler didn’t record an out and was removed after his ninth pitch of the game was blasted for a three-run homer by UCLA’s Blair Dunlap.

Whatever life there had been in the predominantly TCU crowd before the game – and it was the smallest turnout at the College World Series in almost 20 years – was promptly extinguished as the Bruins built a 6-1 lead after two innings and let starting pitcher Trevor Bauer do his thing the rest of the way.

The sophomore righthander, seemingly unfazed by the stage and the Omaha heat, gave up a pair of solo home runs to TCU catcher Bryan Holaday as well as an unearned run but nothing else. Bauer fanned 13 Horned Frogs in eight innings of work. He threw 135 pitches, but his final inning may have been his strongest, as he struck out the side on 14 pitches. Another sign of his dominance? Bauer’s 165 strikeouts on the season leads the NCAA.

Meanwhile, the Bruin bats tacked on a pair of runs in both the sixth and seventh to pull away from the Horned Frogs. Third baseman Dean Espy hit a towering home run to left in the seventh to cap a three-for-four day; Dunlap had three hits as well, and second baseman Cody Regis got on base all five plate appearances and drove in a pair.

“We wanted to be aggressive, have competitive at-bats today,” Dunlap said.

UCLA now finds itself in uncharted territory; the Bruins will meet the winner of Saturday night’s matchup between South Carolina and Clemson in a best-of-three series to determine the College World Series champion. UCLA will likely start sophomore righthander Gerrit Cole in the opener of that series Monday evening.

Ironically, it was TCU coach Jim Schlossnagle who summed up what UCLA must be feeling after Saturday:

“There are no bad days in Omaha.”