No. 2 seed UCLA baseball to face Gonzaga in Minneapolis Regional
The Bruins are headed back to the NCAA Tournament and will open up their postseason in the Minneapolis Regional. Its first matchup is against No. 3-seeded Gonzaga, who UCLA defeated twice last season. (Mia Kayser/Daily Bruin)
By Sam Connon
May 28, 2018 3:34 p.m.
The Bruins may not be hosting a regional next week, but they’re still tournament bound for the second year in a row.
UCLA baseball (36-19) was awarded the No. 2 seed in the Minneapolis Regional on Monday morning and will take on No. 3-seeded Gonzaga (32-22) on Friday in game one of the double-elimination group round. The Bruins were the No. 3 seed last season in the Long Beach Regional and were eliminated in the first round.
UCLA and Gonzaga went head-to-head last season, when UCLA took two out of three in the weekend series at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The series opener was an extra-innings loss for the Bruins, but they rebounded and won the next two games 6-1 and 5-4.
The other teams in the region are No. 1-seeded Minnesota (41-13) and No. 4-seeded Canisius College (35-20). The Bruins and Gophers played earlier this season as a part of the Dairy Queen Classic Pac-12 vs. Big 10 Challenge. UCLA beat Minnesota 6-1 behind freshman right-hander Zach Pettway’s six-inning start in which he allowed one earned run.
Canisius College, a school of around 2,500 undergraduate students in Buffalo, New York, qualified for the D-1 NCAA Tournament by winning the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference title Saturday. The Golden Griffins will play the Gophers on Friday night.
First pitch for UCLA and Gonzaga will be at 11 a.m. at Siebert Field in Minneapolis.
