After the Roadrunners averaged just under nine runs per game in last weekend’s Austin Regional – and the Bruins just under 13 in the Los Angeles Regional – the super regional between the two programs seemed destined for a slugfest.

Especially after UTSA center fielder Mason Lytle deposited junior right-hander Michael Barnett’s second pitch of the afternoon over the wall in left field. 

Instead, Saturday’s bout turned into a pitching duel – one in which No. 15 seed UCLA baseball (46-16, 22-8 Big Ten) came out on top, defeating UTSA (47-14, 23-4 AAC) 5-2 at Jackie Robinson Stadium to move one win away from the Men’s College World Series.

Despite leaving 13 runners on base – compared to the Roadrunners’ four – the Bruins’ pitching staff shut out UTSA after it scored in each of the first two innings. 

Following Lytle’s leadoff homer, the Roadrunners doubled their lead when left fielder Caden Miller pulled off a delayed steal of home. 

“They jumped on us, no question about it,” said coach John Savage. “They had a lot of momentum, and to Michael’s credit, he calmed that down a little bit.” 

But while UTSA leads the nation in come-from-behind victories, UCLA has shown all season that it can come back from a deficit as well as anyone. And Saturday’s win proved to be the Bruins’ 21st victory in a game they trailed.  

While right-hander Zach Royse tossed a 1-2-3 first and pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the second, UTSA’s starter wouldn’t be as lucky the second time through UCLA’s order. 

In the third, sophomore first baseman Mulivai Levu’s RBI double into the right field corner put UCLA on the board before sophomore third baseman Roman Martin tied the game with an RBI groundout. 

With his game-tying RBI Saturday, Martin has recorded an RBI in every game of the NCAA tournament, including three multi-RBI games.

“It was a big confidence thing,” Martin said. “I didn’t have too much confidence in the beginning of the year, but … just sticking to myself and trusting it has really helped me turn things around.” 

Sophomore left fielder Dean West’s bases-loaded sacrifice fly gave the Bruins their first lead of the day 3-2 in the fourth as all but one Bruin had a hit by the end of the fifth, with each of the starting batters having reached base. 

On the other side of the ball, Barnett settled in after the second, tossing four straight shutout frames to finish having tossed six. Barnett limited the Roadrunners to two runs despite allowing six to reach – all on hits.

“It’s obviously a huge privilege to be able to start these big games for us and set the tone,” Barnett said. “And a little adversity early on doesn’t matter. This team’s built off adversity, and myself being able to recover from that is very special.” 

And though Royse allowed nine hits and walked three, he left the game after five frames with his team trailing by just one.  

Right-hander Connor Kelley allowed his first two Bruins to reach in the sixth before the Roadrunners dipped back into their bullpen. And fellow right-hander Robert Orloski pitched out of the jam, retiring Cholowsky, Levu and Martin in order.  

The UCLA bullpen was equally successful with back-to-back 1-2-3 innings in the seventh and eighth. The bullpen strength of both teams resulted in over three scoreless frames, keeping the game at a tight 3-2 score. 

Martin finally broke the scoreless streak in the eighth, delivering a two-RBI triple against Orloski before freshman right-hander Easton Hawk secured his seventh save of the year, retiring the Roadrunners in order in the ninth.

While Savage failed to name a starter for Sunday’s game, UCLA and UTSA will play game two at noon.