No. 1 seed UCLA baseball (48-6, 28-2 Big Ten) has officially concluded its regular season and will head to the Big Ten tournament in Omaha after receiving a bye to the single-elimination stage. The Bruins enter the tournament with an opportunity for redemption after falling in the championship game to the then-No. 8 seed Cornhuskers in shutout fashion last season. UCLA will begin their postseason run by facing No. 5 seed Purdue (36-19, 18-12) on Friday at Charles Schwab Field. The Daily Bruin baseball beat predicts how UCLA will fare in its second-ever Big Ten tournament.

Gabriela Garcia
Assistant Sports editor
Prediction: Big Ten runner-up

This is the Bruins’ first real test.

This is when the lights truly start to get bright.

And the real question is, “Will they shine brighter?”

UCLA started Big Ten play 25-0 this season showing complete dominance. But the Bruins also dropped a game in each of the final two conference series against then-No. 13 Oregon and unranked Washington, showing that they’re not unbeatable in the Big Ten.

Although UCLA holds a 5-1 record against ranked Big Ten opponents, it did not face No. 2 seed Nebraska – the team that held it scoreless in last year’s championship match. And if the Bruins showed us anything in the final weeks of the regular season, it’s that they are not invincible and that the lineup has off days too.

The Bruins rank fifth in the Big Ten with a .295 team batting average, while the Cornhuskers are tied for first at .314. With the tournament set up in a single elimination format, there is no room for error or off days.

Even though UCLA will have to get through likely opponent No. 4 seed USC in the semifinal, it has already proven capable. The Bruins swept the Trojans at the beginning of April, outscoring them 31-16 throughout the series.

Nebraska will likely need to get through No. 3 seed Oregon in its semifinal, and after dropping their regular season series to the Ducks, the Cornhuskers must be out to even the score.

The Bruins will surely find themselves in the championship match, and no matter the opponent, they will need to get runs on the board, or they’ll find themselves in the exact same situation as last season on the wrong side of the final score.

Noah Massey
Daily Bruin staff
Prediction: Big Ten champions

Last year, the Bruins fell just one game short.

This year, their championship aspirations will not be denied.

UCLA’s resume speaks for itself.

It is the first team in Division I baseball history to go wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the nation, and it set a new program record for regular season wins and a Big Ten record for conference wins.

Beyond the standings, UCLA also features the most talented team in the tournament, at least on paper.

The Bruins dominated the Big Ten All-Conference honors announced Tuesday. Seven Bruins made the All-Big Ten First Team – five more than any other program – including junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky, who earned Big Ten Player of the Year for the second consecutive season.

While lacking conference-wide depth, the Big Ten features a quartet of strong programs including UCLA, No. 14 Oregon, No. 20 Nebraska and No. 25 USC – making up the top four seeds in the tournament.

It will be a tall task for any of the other squads to overcome the dominant Bruins, who have hardly faltered since the season began over three months ago.

Matthew Knauer
Daily Bruin contributor
Prediction: Big Ten champions

UCLA ended the regular season with a perfect 14-0 weekend series record and became the first team ever to hold the No. 1 rank in Baseball America’s poll for the season’s entirety.

For the first time ever, the Big Ten tournament is split into two parts. First, seeds 5-12 play a double-elimination bracket, with the top four advancing to face the top four seeds. UCLA is set to play the third qualifier of the double elimination round, No. 5 seed Purdue, which secured the spot with an 8-1 win over No. 8 seed Iowa on Thursday. If UCLA wins, it will likely face USC in the semifinals, which it swept in early April.

The Bruins’ pitching plan has not been published, but with a league-leading 3.34 staff ERA in Big Ten play, coach John Savage has a host of strong options. I predict senior right-hander Michael Barnett, who guided UCLA to four critical postseason victories in 2025, will start Friday’s game.

Sophomore right-hander Wylan Moss is sure to start one of the games, ranking second in the league with a 2.38 ERA and 71 strikeouts to just 20 walks in 56.2 innings. The only pitcher ahead of Moss in ERA is USC’s ace left-hander, Mason Edwards, who may well pitch against UCLA if they face off on Saturday.

The Bruin ace Logan Reddemann has missed the previous four weeks while managing arm fatigue, but according to Savage, the junior right-hander began ramping up last Monday and we should be seeing him in Omaha for the Big Ten tournament. Only time will tell if Reddemann takes the mound this weekend, but either way UCLA needs him. He will be a key cog in the machine — one of the nation’s best pitchers through the first ten weeks of the season.

At Savage’s disposal are a wealth of bullpen options, as well as a powerful lineup that averaged more than eight runs per game in Big Ten competition. UCLA should sweep the weekend, but USC’s Edwards or Nebraska right-hander Carson Jasa may make things interesting.