UCLA Bruins baseball

UCLA Bruins baseball
UCLA Bruins baseball
2024 UCLA Bruins baseball team
Founded	1920
University	University of California, Los Angeles
Head coach	John Savage (20th season)
Conference	Big Ten
Location	Los Angeles, California
Home stadium	TBA
Nickname	Bruins
Colors	Blue and gold;
NCAA Tournament champions
	2013
College World Series runner-up
	2010
College World Series appearances
	1969, 1997, 2010, 2012, 2013
NCAA regional champions
	1997, 2000, 2007, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2019
NCAA Tournament appearances
	1969, 1979, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022
Regular season conference champions
	1944, 1969, 1976, 1979, 1986, 2000, 2011, 2012, 2015, 2019

The UCLA Bruins baseball team is the varsity college baseball team of the University of California, Los Angeles. Having started playing in 1920, the program is a member of the NCAA Division I Big Ten Conference. It played its home games at Jackie Robinson Stadium^[2] until the school was evicted from the stadium by a court decision.^[3] The program has appeared in five College World Series and won the 2013 National Championship.

History

1969 season

Chris Chambliss led the Bruins to the 1969 CWS, UCLA's first. The team defeated Santa Clara at the NCAA Regional and finished in 7th place, after losing to Tulsa, 6–5 in 10 innings, and to Arizona State, 2–1 in 12 innings.^[4] Chambliss, who went on to play for Major League Baseball's Cleveland Indians, New York Yankees, and Atlanta Braves between 1971 and 1986, had a team-high .340 batting average and 15 home runs. Other members of the team included Bill Bonham, Mike Reinbach, and Jim York.^[5]

1997 season

The 1997 team won the Pac-10 title with a 43–18 record (21–9 Pac-10) and reached in the CWS. The team was led by head coach Gary Adams and included future Major League Baseball players Troy Glaus, Jim Parque, and Eric Byrnes. Jon Heinrichs, Tom Jacquez, Eric Valent, and Peter Zamora also played on the team. During the season, UCLA held a number one ranking, and the team finished the season ranked sixth.

At the NCAA tournament Midwest Regional in Stillwater, Oklahoma, the Bruins lost the first game to Harvard, but won the next four games, against Ohio, Tennessee, Harvard, and Oklahoma State, in order to advance to the College World Series.

At the College World Series, UCLA struggled with poor pitching and defense and lost its first game to Miami, 7–3 (12 innings), and was eliminated by Mississippi State, 7–5, in their second game.^[6]

2010 season

The Bruins finished the 2010 season with a 43–13 record and were selected to host the Los Angeles Regional of the 2010 NCAA tournament at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The team won the regional by defeating its other three teams, UC Irvine (39–17), Kent State (39–23), and defending national champions LSU (40–20). The Bruins advanced to the Super Regional round, in which they defeated Cal State Fullerton.

The team became UCLA's first to win a College World Series game, defeating Florida in the first game, 11–3.^[7] The Bruins then defeated TCU twice to advance to the National Championship Series.

The Bruins lost both games to South Carolina in the CWS Championship Series to finish as national runners-up. The team was ranked No. 1 in an April Baseball America poll. Cody Regis, Beau Amaral, and Trevor Bauer were named to the All-College World Series Team. Rob Rasmussen was among ten players from the 2010 team that were selected in the 2010 MLB Draft.

2012 season

With a 42–14 record, the Bruins hosted the Los Angeles Regional of the NCAA tournament at Jackie Robinsion Stadium and defeated Creighton and New Mexico to advance to the Super Regional. The Bruins then defeated TCU to advance to the College World Series. At the College World Series, UCLA defeated Stony Brook, but was eliminated with losses to Arizona and Florida State.

2013 season

Following a 39–17 regular season record and third-place finish in the Pac-12, UCLA was selected to host a regional in the 2013 NCAA tournament. In it, UCLA defeated Cal Poly, San Diego, and San Diego State to advance to the Super Regional. In the Fullerton Super Regional, UCLA defeated top ranked Cal State Fullerton, 5–3 (in extra innings) and 3–0, advance to the College World Series for the third time in four seasons.

UCLA advanced to the 2013 College World Series and faced Mississippi State in a best-of-three final, having defeating the number one national seed North Carolina, 4–1, in the final game of the preliminary round. The Bruins won the first game, 3–1. They won the second game, 8–0, to win the program's first national championship. The team's pitching staff, including starters Adam Plutko, Nick Vander Tuig, and Grant Watson, and relievers James Kaprielian, Zack Weiss, and David Berg, gave up only four runs in five games at the World Series. The Bruins became the first team to win the World Series without hitting a home run during the tournament since Ohio State did in 1966.

USA National Team

Nine players from UCLA have played for the USA Collegiate National teams: Trevor Bauer, Gerrit Cole, Brandon Crawford, Josh Karp, Bill Scott, Jon Brandt, Eric Valent, Jim Parque, Troy Glaus, and Shane Mack, Jon Olsen.

Cole and catcher Steve Rodriguez were named to the 2010 USA Collegiate National Team.^[8] Cole is one of three veterans returning from the 2009 National Team.