When it was announced that the UCLA baseball team had been awarded a No. 2 seed in the Fullerton Regional of the NCAA Tournament, relief pitcher J.D. Haver stood up, pumped his right fist in the air, and let out a cheer.
Haver’s reaction was understandable given the up-and-down season the Bruins have had, and it reflected pretty well the mood of the rest of the team.
“Joy and relief,” pitcher Tim Murphy said. “There’s always that small chance that you could get left out. We were pretty confident that we were going to be in a regional, and when it finally goes up there, you’re happy to see yourself up there.”
The Bruins (31-25, 13-11 Pac-10) were given the No. 2 seed in the regional that includes No. 1 seed and host Cal State Fullerton (37-19), No. 3 Virginia (38-21) and No. 4 Rider (29-26). The Bruins’ first game will be Friday at 4 p.m. against Virginia at Goodwin Field.
This season has been a trying one for the Bruins. It began with high hopes and expectations that went unfulfilled much of the year. For the first time in the history of the program, the Bruins were awarded the preseason No. 1 ranking by Baseball America, yet they failed to maintain a top-25 ranking for most of the season due to inconsistent play.
But in the past few weeks, the Bruins have turned their season around, winning five of their final six conference games and earning the team its third consecutive appearance in the regionals.
It’s the first time in the history of the program a team has made the postseason three consecutive years.
“Just to see us up there for the third straight year, I think it’s really a credit to all the hard work we’ve done over the last three years, and really, the perseverance of this team from the situation that we were in,” catcher Ryan Babineau said. “I couldn’t be more happy right now.”
The Bruins’ presence in the tournament is a testament to the way the team closed out the regular season. Since the team lost a heartbreaker to Oregon State on May 11, the Bruins have won six of their final eight games and begun to show the potential that earned the team its high preseason ranking.
“I just think that we got back to the process of really believing in ourselves and having the confidence of the team that we’re very capable of being,” coach John Savage said. “So, there’s just good team building, a lot of character and guys that have really stepped up when we needed it. We were backed up against the wall, clearly, and at the end of the day, we are in the tournament, which is everybody’s goal at the beginning of the year ““ to give yourself a chance to win and play for a national championship.”
Along with UCLA, there were four other Pac-10 teams that earned regional berths: Arizona State, Arizona, Stanford and California. Both Arizona State and Stanford will host regionals, with Arizona State earning the No. 3 overall seed in the tournament.
While the Pac-10 had a strong showing, one team was notably absent: Oregon State. The two-time defending national champions were not awarded a regional bid, largely due to a subpar 11-13 record in conference.
Following the selection show, Savage said he wished the Beavers had made the field of 64.
“As two-time defending champions, I think they deserved that right to defend their title,” he said. “I guess they just didn’t win enough ball games outside of league; they didn’t win enough games in league. I think they’re certainly very capable of being in the tournament and probably playing well in the tournament.”
After fighting for their playoff lives the last couple of weeks, the Bruins can now find solace in making the tournament. They have confidence that the troubles they have faced will prepare them for the potential challenges ahead.
“We’ve had some series that we’ve had to win, and we’ve had some games we’ve had to win,” Savage said. “Nobody really likes being put in that position, but that’s the position we put ourselves in. That only helps build the team. When you can get through some tough times, your team benefits from those tough times and a lot times you’re stronger because of that. A lot of teams don’t face adversity at all throughout the year, and when they do and it’s in the postseason, you see those teams collapse.
“We’ve been through the last two years’ regionals and super regionals, and people saying that we’re done, people saying that you’re overrated, people saying that you don’t deserve to be ranked where you’re ranked. So this team hasn’t flinched, and at the end of the day, you have to give this team credit because they did step up when they had to and they won the ball games down the stretch that we needed to.”