The path to the Men’s College World Series is tedious.

But a critical first step was achieved on the road.

No. 1 UCLA baseball (43-4, 24-0 Big Ten) swept Michigan State (16-28, 10-17), winning 4-1 on Friday, 4-3 on Saturday and finishing the weekend with a come-from-behind 13-11 victory Sunday to clinch the outright Big Ten regular season title, sealed by Washington’s win over No. 13 Oregon.

The first of two comebacks came in the series opener, with the Bruins trailing 1-0 in the eighth inning.

After junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky reached on a throwing error, junior Mulivai Levu clobbered a hanging breaking ball over the right field wall – marking his 13th home run of the year and surpassing last season’s tally of 12. And the first baseman would hit his 14th long ball in the first inning of the series finale.

“He’s an elite college hitter. Any organization that’s scouting him would say that,” head coach John Savage said. “When he uses the whole field, from foul pole to foul pole, he’s as good a left-handed hitter as there is in the country. He has impact, he slugs and he’ll walk. He’s driven in runs at a really rapid pace, as much as anyone in the country over the last two years.”

The Bruins were able to seal game one of the series, tagging on two more runs in the top of ninth before sophomore right-hander Easton Hawk retired the side.

A four-run first inning put the Bruins ahead Saturday, and a collective bullpen effort – with five pitchers covering 4.2 innings while allowing just one run – solidified the victory.

UCLA entered the seventh inning of Sunday’s game trailing 10-2 after Michigan State scored two runs in three consecutive innings.

But the game was all but over.

A hit by pitch, three walks and a fielder’s choice added two runs to the Bruins’ tally, setting the table for redshirt junior right fielder Payton Brennan and junior center fielder Will Gasparino, who hit back-to-back doubles to knock in three runs.

The extra-base hits were not as pretty as they appeared in the scorebook, though.

Brennan bounced a chopped ground ball over Spartan first baseman Randy Seymour’s head, rolling into the right-field corner. And Gasparino lifted a pop-up that managed to fall between a backpedaling Seymour and right fielder Parker Picot.

It was not long before a line-drive single by junior catcher Cashel Dugger – also landing in front of Picot in right field – brought the score to 10-8.

“Passing the baton, as we call it, not taking selfish at-bats,” said junior third baseman Roman Martin. “When you get those small wins, like a 3-2 winner with a walk or a hit by pitch, it leads to big innings.”

The Bruins would surrender one run in the bottom of the seventh, but their offense stormed back in the eighth to tie the score at 11 apiece, highlighted by a Martin RBI double that went just over the outstretched reach of left fielder Nick Williams.

Cholowsky would solidify the comeback in the ninth, knocking in the go-ahead run on a topspun line drive that landed just in front of a diving Williams.

Hawk closed out all three victories with a save, bringing his season total to 12 – ranking second in the NCAA and earning him Big Ten Co-Pitcher of the Week honors. The right-hander has not allowed a run in his last 19 outings – a stretch that spans nearly two months.

“He’s super valuable, he’s our closer,” Levu said. “He comes in and delivers when he needs to, and he’s been clutch this whole season. Props to him for coming in the whole weekend and shutting it down for us.”

But the Bruins’ pitching staff was without another valuable piece for the second straight weekend.

Junior right-hander Logan Reddemann missed his second consecutive start due to arm fatigue, per Savage’s statement posted on X.

Sophomore right-hander Wylan Moss took the ball Friday night in place of Reddemann for the second week in a row. Across 6.2 innings, Moss allowed two hits and three walks, striking out eight Spartans while effectively mixing his fastball and secondary offerings.

Without their ace, or redshirt senior southpaw Ian May – who threw 43 pitches in Tuesday’s midweek matchup against UC Santa Barbara and took the weekend off to rest a fatigued shoulder – Moss’ length proved critical in saving the bullpen.

“I thought Moss was very good. He had fastball command,” Savage said. “He was 92-95 (miles per hour), a really good slider and a very good changeup – that’s his go-to pitch. That was his second Friday start. I thought he got his feet underneath him and threw the ball well. He threw 98 pitches, so we stretched him out a little.”

With the series sweep, the Bruins not only clinched the Big Ten title, but they remained No. 1 in the national rankings for the 13th consecutive week, tying the all-time record set by North Carolina in 2013.

UCLA has seven regular-season games remaining, facing LMU (12-37, 3-18 WCC) on Tuesday in its final midweek game of the year before the final two conference series of the 2026 campaign.

“It says a lot about our players and their makeup and their character to win the Big Ten,” Savage said. “I’m very proud of those guys, and they should be very proud of the first step, in terms of what we want to do this season.”