UCLA baseball sweeps Mississippi State, brings home first national championship
By Tyler Drohan
June 25, 2013 9:18 p.m.
After a convincing sweep of Mississippi State, completed with a 8-0 win Tuesday night, the UCLA baseball team captured its first-ever NCAA title and the school’s 109th overall.
Under the bright lights of TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb., the Bruins put together their most complete performance of the College World Series, controlling the game right from the start.
UCLA jumped out in front with a run in the first on an RBI sacrifice fly by sophomore right fielder Eric Filia. Filia added another RBI sacrifice in the third followed by an RBI single by junior shortstop Pat Valaika to put the Bruins up 3-0 after three innings. They doubled that advantage with another pair of runs in the fourth and a run in the sixth on a RBI single by Filia, his third of the night.
UCLA and Filia were not done, however. Filia’s bases-loaded single through the right side in the eighth scored two runs, giving the Bruins an 8-0 advantage and Filia his fifth RBI of the night.
Junior starter Nick Vander Tuig cruised with the comfortable lead, shutting out the Bulldogs in eight innings of work. The win extends UCLA’s school-record postseason win streak to 10 games, completing an undefeated run in the playoffs for the Bruins. Sophomore closer David Berg finished the game out, pitching in every game for the Bruins in the postseason.
In 2010, coach John Savage led UCLA to its first-ever trip to the CWS championship series, but the Bruins were swept away by the South Carolina Gamecocks.
On Tuesday night, it was Savage’s bunch that did the sweeping, securing the first baseball national title in school history.
Compiled by Tyler Drohan, Bruin Sports senior staff.
