UCLA approaches Men’s College World Series feeling ‘really special’
OMAHA, Neb. — John Savage left Omaha last month with a mindset similar to the one he came back with this week – winning the next tournament.
This time it just happens to be the last one of the season.
The longtime UCLA head coach brings the 15th-seeded Bruins to the Men’s College World Series – the program’s first appearance since 2013 – beginning with Saturday’s 11 a.m. PDT opener against Murray State.
And he’s hoping the Bruins can leave the same way they did 12 years ago – as national champions.
“It’s been a long time since we have been back here,” UCLA sophomore outfielder Dean West said at Thursday’s introductory press conferences. “And we want to come back here, put our name back out there on the map and show everyone what West Coast baseball has to offer.”
They’ll get that chance thanks in large part to a strong finishing kick.
UCLA has won 13 of its last 15 games, including all five in the postseason. The Bruins went 3-1 at the Big Ten Tournament played in the same Charles Schwab Stadium in Omaha that they’ll be in Saturday, losing in the title game. Since then, they’ve outscored opponents by a combined 50-16 tally.
All that momentum heading from Westwood to the Midwest has the Bruins (47-16) as a trendy sleeper pick out of Bracket Two.
“It’s really special,” shortstop Roch Cholowsky said of UCLA returning to the Men’s College World Series. “We’ve got a special group of guys. We’ve dealt with a lot of adversity through the year. Just getting back to Omaha where the Bruins should be is really special to us.”
The sophomore, who earlier in the week was named the Perfect Game College Player of the Year, is “as good a player as we’ve had,” according to Savage.
“He’s just a winning kid,” he said. “His feel for the room, his feel for his teammates, his feel for games. His IQ, baseball IQ is extremely high.”
Cholowsky’s 23 home runs are the most by a UCLA player since 2000. He won both the Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year in the Big Ten, the first to do so in Bruin history.
He’s the anchor of a defense that Savaged called “championship level, clearly,” after a two-game sweep of UTSA in the Los Angeles Super Regional last weekend.
The UCLA staff has done its part, too, putting up 16 consecutive scoreless innings entering the MCWS. Savage said Thursday that junior right-hander Cody Delvecchio will be back in the mix the rest of the way as well.
Delvecchio, who started the first game of the season for the Bruins, hasn’t pitched since the end of March while academically ineligible.
“As of now, it looks like he is eligible,” Savage said. “He is with us. He’s certainly going to be able to be a big piece out of the bullpen for us.”
Delvecchio made 16 appearances out of the bullpen a year ago, with a 2.42 ERA over 26 innings. He was 1-3 with a 6.82 ERA in a typical Friday night’s starter role this season.
Matched up in a bracket with fellow national seeds No. 3 Arkansas and No. 6 LSU – the Southeastern Conference cohorts meet in the 4 p.m. game Saturday – will make for an all-hands-on-deck approach on the mound for UCLA.
But don’t forget about Murray State, Savage said. The unseeded Racers (44-15), who won the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and are making the program’s first Men’s College World Series appearance, have his full attention.
“I looked at Murray State and they had to go through Ole Miss. They had to go through Duke. They had to go through Georgia Tech. That’s all I need to know,” said Savage, who is in his 21st season in Westwood. “I don’t need to think that they’re a Cinderella story. They’ve got really good players. They are very well-coached. They’ve got pro players.”
Men’s College World Series
Who: No. 15 seed UCLA (47-16) vs. Murray State (44-15)
When: 11 a.m. Saturday
Where: Charles Schwab Field, Omaha, Neb.
TV: ESPN