UCLA baseball beats Cal State Fullerton in Super Regional opener

It was just like any other start for junior Adam Plutko, surrendering hits here and there before escaping with big pitches in big moments on Friday night to get his team into winning position.

Only it wasn’t like any other start for Plutko, and UCLA coach John Savage knew it before the game had even begun when he watched the ace of his staff warm up in the bullpen.

Plutko, a three-time all-conference selection, unexpectedly did not have his name called in the first 10 rounds of the Major League Baseball draft on Friday. The junior then had to turn around right after to have his name called in the nationally televised opening game of UCLA’s Super Regional series on the road at Cal State Fullerton.

“I think there was a little bit of a chip (on his shoulder). I felt it in the bullpen,” Savage said. “He competes as well as anyone we’ve ever had so pretty consistent with what we see, but there’s got to be a chip. It’s got to be somewhere in the back of his mind because to be let down like that and then have to go pitch one of the biggest games of your career – it’s difficult.”

The winningest postseason pitcher in school history responded with what Savage called one of the best performances in UCLA history. Plutko battled through seven innings, allowing one unearned run and six hits, leaving the game with a 3-1 lead.

Though the Bruin bullpen surrendered the lead with the Titans scoring twice in the bottom of the eighth inning, the team responded in the top of the 10th with two runs to take a 5-3 win and a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three series.

“It was very emotional for me, emotional for him, for our team,” Savage said of Plutko. “He’s been our leader for the past two years. … I knew he was going to be a bulldog and it was an impressive outing and like I said one that will be remembered for a long time.”

UCLA’s usually reliable bullpen surrendered the lead Plutko and a scrappy offense had built.

Up 3-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Savage brought in sophomore closer David Berg with a runner on first and no outs. Berg issued a walk to his first batter and the Titans scored twice without the ball ever leaving the infield. Fullerton had an RBI groundout and a two-out infield single to make it 3-3.

Berg settled down though, and UCLA regained the lead for good in the top of the 10th on an RBI single by sophomore right fielder Eric Filia and an RBI sacrifice fly by junior shortstop Pat Valaika.

“Guys were able to battle and just get focused on the game, especially Adam,” Berg said. “(I’m) extremely proud of him. He was obviously a bulldog today … you can’t ask for anything more from a guy.”

After surrendering the lead in the eighth, Berg finished off the game in 10th inning, closing the game out with back-to-back strikeouts with the winning run at the plate.

Afterward, Fullerton coach Rick Vanderhook was left lamenting his team’s mistakes, including a pair of errors and a dropped ball in the outfield in the tenth inning.

“They beat us. We gave them too much and when you’re at this point in the season, you give away too much stuff and you lose, and that’s what happened,” Vanderhook said.

With the win, the Bruins are one more win away from advancing to the College World Series. The teams will play again on Saturday at 7 p.m.

“It was a very competitive night to say the least. You had two of the best pitchers in the country. … We battled and we competed,” Savage said. “It’s one game. If we had lost, I would have said pretty much the same thing: it’s one game. It’s far from being over. You don’t win 50 games and go away.”