UCLA Baseball: College World Series LA Regional Preview
Jun 25, 2013; Omaha, NE, USA; UCLA Bruins head coach John Savage (22) looks on from the dugout before game 2 of the College World Series finals against the Mississippi State Bulldogs at TD Ameritrade Park. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
UCLA Baseball heads into the postseason tonight as the Los Angeles Regional gets underway at our very own Jackie Robinson Stadium. The NCAA College World Series is broken into four phases, each step further narrowing down the field of 64 teams. The first round consists of 16 separate four-team mini-tournaments, the Regionals, which start today.
The LA Regional pits our UCLA Bruins against the Ole Miss Rebels, the Maryland Terrapins, and the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners in a double elimination tournament. The schedule for this weekend is as follows:
UCLA Bruins
Friday
Game 1 (4pm-ESPN3) – Maryland vs. Ole Miss
Game 2 (8pm-ESPNU) – CSU Bakersfield vs. UCLA
Saturday
Game 3 (4pm-ESPN3) – loser of Game 1 vs loser of Game 2 (At 0-2, the loser of this game is eliminated.)
Game 4 (8pm-ESPNU) – winner of Game 1 vs winner of Game 2
Sunday
Game 5 (4pm-ESPN3) – winner of Game 3 vs loser of Game 4 (At 1-2, the loser of this game is eliminated.)
Game 6 (8pm-ESPNU) – winner of Game 4 vs winner of Game 5 (Loser of this game is eliminated only if they are now 2-2)
Monday
Game 7 (8pm-ESPNU) – If both teams from Game 6 are still alive, they play a rematch, the loser of which is eliminated.
The CWS second round takes the winners of the 16 Regionals and pairs them up in a simple, three-game series, which they call the Super Regional. Without getting ahead of ourselves, this is exciting for UCLA because there is a possibility that we would meet USC in the Super Regional if we were to both win our Regionals.
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UCLA is the No. 1 overall seed, but the top seed has not won the title since 1999.
The third round takes the eight Super Regional winners, sends them to Omaha, and repeats round one, holding two more four-team, double-elimination tournaments.
The two teams that emerge from these two mini-tournaments will then face off in a three-game championship series for the title.
It’s a long path frought with many perils. UCLA, at 42-14, has been deemed the number one overall seed in the field of 64 – a first in program history – but the overall top seed has not won the title since 1999. So let’s take a look at our Regional opponents, at least two of which we are guaranteed to face this weekend.
Next: Will the Roadrunners make UCLA look like Wile E. Coyote?