Mississippi State victory puts UCLA a win away from national title

OMAHA, Neb. — If UCLA baseball’s ship is going to sink, it’s going to be on the arm of its submarine closer.

In another jam at the College World Series with the game on the line, the Bruins turned to sophomore David Berg, who has pitched every game in the team’s postseason run, to finish off another victory.

After inducing a ground ball double play to end a threat in the eighth, Berg allowed a pair of singles to bring the winning run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth for Mississippi State.

With two outs and two strikes, Berg fielded a soft ground ball to his left and sprinted to first before flipping it to junior first baseman Pat Gallagher for the final out of UCLA’s 3-1 win in game one of the CWS championship series.

“That’s why he’s an All-American,” said coach John Savage of Berg. “When you’re the visiting team and you are up a run or two in the eighth inning, you just cannot leave your All-American in the bullpen. It’s a rule, you can’t do that.”

The win puts UCLA (48-17) one away from its first-ever NCAA baseball title. Berg’s save, his 24th of the season, set a new NCAA record for saves in a season.

Berg’s strong finish capped off a furious start for the Bruins, who jumped out to a 3-0 lead early.

UCLA got to Mississippi State (51-19) early with junior shortstop Pat Valaika singling home sophomore third baseman Kevin Kramer to score the game’s first run in the first inning.

Sophomore right fielder Eric Filia’s two-out, two-run single in the fourth put the Bruins up 3-0.

“I think getting the first run in the first inning really set the tone for offense,” said Valaika, who finished with two of UCLA’s six hits.

The early support was helped along by another strong postseason start from junior Adam Plutko, who pitched six innings, allowing four hits and one run to pick up his school-record seventh postseason victory.

Plutko began the night with three perfect innings before walking in a run in the fourth and exiting after a lead-off single in the seventh.

“We just know our pitching is phenomenal, and we really try to build the momentum, get the few runs in the first or whatever … and be comfortable,” Filia said.

After recording the final out, Berg ran past the first base bag and let out a yell, pumping his fists. The closer then steadied himself and joined his team in its usual postgame routine.

UCLA will again face Mississippi State on Tuesday night, a win away from clinching the best-of-three series and the national championship. Junior starter Nick Vander Tuig will be on the mound for the Bruins.

In murky territory for a program that just won its first-ever game in a CWS finals, the Bruins’ submarine closer said the team needs to continue to just stay the course.

“This type of situation … it’s a little bit of uncharted waters. We’re one win away from winning a baseball title for the first time in history,” Berg said. “We’ve just got to keep doing what we’ve been doing – what we’ve done in Omaha and really all year.”