OMAHA, Neb. – With apologies to Yogi Berra, it truly was deja vu all over again at the Big Ten Baseball Championship.
First, it was Mulivai Levu with a sac fly to send the winning run home in the bottom of the ninth to get UCLA past Purdue in the quarterfinals. Then Levu clubbed a three-run game ending homer in the bottom of the ninth to get the Bruins past Southern California and into the final.
And then, for the 28th time this season and the third game at the Big Ten tournament, UCLA came from behind to win in their last at-bat, this time when No. 9 hitter Phoenix Call was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the 11th, pushing Roman Martin across the plate with the winning run and giving UCLA a 3-2 win over Oregon, their 51st of the season, and the 2026 Big Ten Championship.
“We’ve done it before, so we always know we can do it again. And I think it’s just it’s not one person. It’s a team game, and it’s just we get one guy on, someone’s going to do a job, and you just trust the other guy to keep doing the job,” UCLA’s Payton Brennan said of the team’s ability to mount comebacks and win.
With runners on first and second in the bottom of the second and no outs, UCLA’s Cashel Dugger attempted a sacrifice bunt, but a perfectly executed wheel play that saw third baseman Drew Smith get the lead runner by throwing to shortstop Maddox Molony covering third, who threw across the diamond to get Dugger at first for a double play, snuffed out the Bruins’ first opportunity to score.
“We turned that inning around, you know, that was early in the game, right? We turned that inning around pretty quick,” said Oregon head coach Mark Wasikowski. “I felt like our guys were prepared. I felt like they played really hard. I thought they were really, really tough. And it wasn’t tough enough, right? That just tells you when you’re going to go up against No. 1 team in the country, you’re going to have to elevate your game even to another level. And they know that. They know that very clearly. … And maybe this is a blessing in disguise that it hurts them so bad, because they know that they’re just as good as anybody that’s out there.”
Payton Brennan drew a one-out walk in the fourth and then scored on a triple by Will Gasparino to give the Bruins a 1-0 lead. Cashel Dugger then hit a grounder to third, and Gasparino broke for home, where he was caught in a rundown. As the ball went back and forth with Gasparino stuck in the middle, he was nearly back to third base when the ball came back to Ducks third baseman Drew Smith. Gasparino bowled Smith over, raising his left elbow, and was tagged out.
A video review by the umpires ensued and Gasparino was ejected for malicious contact under Rule 8-7, which says “a runner deliberately attempts to dislodge the ball or uses excessive force, they are declared out and immediately ejected from the game” and comes with a one-game suspension, so the Bruins will be without their starting center fielder for the first game of the NCAA Tournament next weekend.
“I think he kind of got up on Drew and they called it a malicious play. So that was pretty unfortunate because we talked about to the team about, let’s make sure that we understand the big picture here and sportsmanship and this and that. And it’s just a, unfortunate play, I guess you would say in the heat of the moment. Hopefully they understand and, you know, I don’t know what the penalty will be, but, uh, it’s a tough, tough, tough penalty,” said UCLA head coach John Savage. “He did his job. He stayed in a rundown and got Dugger to second base. But, you know, the end of play was unfortunate.”
Oregon nearly tied the game in the fifth, loading the bases with two outs when UCLA starter Angel Cervantes issued back-to-back walks to Angel Laya and Drew Smith after a two-out single from Ryan Cooney. With the infield shifted to the left side, Brayden Jaksa hit a grounder to Bruins second baseman Phoenix Call, who was playing to the left side of second base. Call’s throw to first forced Mulivai Levu to stretch to catch the ball, but after a review, it was determined he never left the bag and Smith was out, ending the inning.
Cervantes threw five scoreless innings, matching a season high for innings pitched, and allowed four hits and three walks, striking out five. The freshman who was selected 50th overall in the 2025 Major League Baseball Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“the biggest thing was just to get ahead and stay ahead. That’s something I keep in my mind the whole time. The main pit, the main thing was just getting the first pitch strike and then going pitch by pitch. And that was kind of the big deal for the whole game,” Cervantes said. “As a kid, I’ve always seen colleges play here, and this was a dream to play here. And to be able to pitch here, start a game, I mean, you can’t really ask for anything else.”
Justin Lee came on to replace Cervantes to start the sixth, and Burke-Lee Mabeus immediately homered off the new Bruins pitcher to tie the game at one apiece, drawing an unsportsmanlike conduct warning from the umpires after staring down Lee and flipping his bat while jogging to first base. Naulivou Lauaki followed Mabeus with another solo homer, and Lee yielded to Austin may having given up two homers while throwing just seven pitches.
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Payton Brennan hit a one-out triple in the bottom of the sixth, chugging around the bases when Oregon left fielder Jax Gimenez misread the ball, but UCLA couldn’t get him home.
A two-out single to right by Aidan Espinoza in the bottom of the ninth sent Payton Brennan home from second to tie the game at two apiece and send the game to extra innings, and then Easton Hawk, the Bruins’ elite reliever, locked down the Oregon bats for three innings.
“I wanted to take him out after 29 pitches after the ninth and he begged for the 10th and I said, okay, I’ll give you one more. And that was pretty clean,” said Savage. Hawk’s velocity hit 99 during the top of the 11th, and he showed no signs of fatigue, despite 46 total pitches between his first two appearances and another 42 in the championship game.
Singles from Roman Martin and Brennan started the bottom of the 11th, and Jarrod Hocking bunted into a fielder’s choice on the third base side and beat out the throw to load the bases with no outs. Oregon’s Devin Bell then struck out Cashel Dugger and Aidan Espinoza to bring up No. 9 hitter Phoenix Call.
The first pitch from Bell grazed his helmet, and he was sent to first base. After a premature celebration by his teammates and a five minute video review, there was no evidence to overturn the initial call, and Martin trotted home with the winning run.
2026 Big Ten Tournament Schedule
All times Eastern Daylight Time
All games played at Charles Schwab Field, Omaha, Nebraska
Tuesday, May 19
No. 12 Michigan State 8, No. 5 Purdue 4 – Game 1 – Recap
No. 8 Iowa 10, No. 9 Illinois 6 – Game 2 – Recap
No. 7 Michigan 10, No. 10 Rutgers 0 (Seven Innings) – Game 3 – Recap
No. 11 Washington 8, No. 6 Ohio State 6 – Game 4 – Recap
Wednesday, May 20
No. 5 Purdue 3, No. 9 Illinois 1 – Game 5 – Recap
No. 6 Ohio State 3, No. 10 Rutgers 2 – Game 6 – Recap
No. 12 Michigan State 4, No. 8 Iowa 3 – Game 7 – Recap
No. 11 Washington 7, No. 7 Michigan 1 – Game 8 – Recap
Thursday, May 21
No. 5 Purdue 8, No. 8 Iowa 1 – Game 9
No. 7 Michigan 3, No. 6 Ohio State 0 – Game 10
Friday, May 22
No. 4 Southern California 7, No. 12 Michigan State 0 – Game 11
No. 1 UCLA 4, No. 5 Purdue 3 – Game 12
No. 2 Nebraska 6, No. 7 Michigan 4 – Game 13
Saturday, May 23
No. 3 Oregon 9, No. 11 Washington 4 – Game 14
No. 4 Southern California vs. No. 1 UCLA 4 – Game 15
No. 3 Oregon 8, No. 2 Nebraska 0 – Game 16
Sunday, May 24
No. 1 UCLA 4, No. 3 Oregon 3
Photo: Easton Hawk finished all three games at the Big Ten tournament for UCLA. (Photo via UCLA Baseball on X)
