OMAHA, Neb. — A slow start put UCLA behind the eight ball for the second consecutive day, but the cardiac kids from Westwood mounted yet another dramatic comeback Saturday afternoon in Omaha, shocking USC 7-5 in the Big Ten Tournament semifinal.
Mulivai Levu followed up his late-night heroics Friday with a two-out, walk-off, three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday. One night earlier, the junior from Ocean View High in Huntington Beach delivered a walk-off sacrifice fly to propel the Bruins past Purdue.
“I was trying to hunt a fastball over the plate, and it ended up being middle-in,” Levu said. “I kind of got a little jammed on it, but found the barrel at the same time. I was just hunting the fastball the whole at-bat.”
Time and again, UCLA manager John Savage has been impressed by his first baseman in high-leverage moments.
“A lot of times, it feels like he’s almost swinging a paddle,” Savage said. “Like, it’s a flat paddle. He’s so flat, he’s in the zone a long time, that’s what I mean by that. It’s a flat swing. It’s almost like the bat’s flat, but it’s not, obviously. It’s just a real special swing, he has special hand-eye coordination, and he’s got power from foul pole to foul pole.”
Top-seeded UCLA (50-6) will play in the Big Ten championship game at noon PT Sunday in Omaha, against second-seeded Nebraska or third-seeded Oregon, which are playing their semifinal game Saturday night. To no one’s surprise, Nebraska fans have packed Charles Schwab Field, as their Cornhuskers attempt to win their third consecutive Big Ten Tournament.
Saturday’s victory marked UCLA’s ninth come-from-behind victory of the season when trailing after six innings. The club took a 4-3 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning when leadoff batter Dean West blasted a two-run homer, his sixth long ball of the season.
Down to its final three outs and trailing 4-3, fourth-seeded USC (43-15) mounted a comeback of its own in the top of the ninth inning, loading the bases with nobody out. Isaac Cadena hit a sharp ground ball to first, which Levu fielded and threw to second base. UCLA was able to get only one out on the fielder’s choice, as Adrian Lopez came around to score and tie the game at 4.
The next hitter, Jack Basseer, delivered a clutch sacrifice fly to center field, scoring the game’s go-ahead run.
The crosstown rivals played just one regular-season series, with UCLA outscoring USC 31-16 in a three-game sweep in early April at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
USC starting pitcher Grant Govel held UCLA’s potent offense to just two runs over 4⅔ innings, allowing six hits and no walks and striking out one.
Govel even gritted through a nasty stinger on a comebacker in the bottom of the fourth inning. UCLA’s Will Gasparino drilled a screaming line drive – with an exit velocity of 112 mph – into Govel’s back. The battle-tested sophomore was unfazed, keeping UCLA’s top-ranked offense in check.
Behind Govel, USC led for the majority of the game. An RBI single from designated hitter Augie Lopez put USC up 1-0 in the top of the first inning. Lopez tacked on another run for the Trojans in the top of third with another RBI single, then came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Cadena for a 3-0 lead.
USC chased UCLA starter Michael Barnett in the fifth inning, its three runs coming off eight hits and one walk.
As it has been known to do, UCLA chipped away at the lead. Levu remained hot, banging home an RBI single in the bottom of the third, cutting the deficit by a run. The Bruins got another run back in the bottom of the fourth, thanks to a hit from designated hitter Dominic Cadiz.
Projected No. 1 overall MLB draft pick Roch Cholowsky had a quiet day, going 0 for 5. The Bruins shortstop is just 1 for 9 through two Big Ten Tournament games. He’ll hope to leave his mark on the Big Ten title game Sunday.
“You’ve got to move in and out on Cholowsky,” USC manager Andy Stankiewicz said. “We’ve competed against him for a number of years now. So, you can’t get caught in the same rhythm with him, the same pitching plan. You’ve just got to move it around. I think our pitchers did a decent job today of coming in and going back away, and that’s how you’ve got to face him. He’s awfully good.”