Big Ten Tournament: Day 5

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Game 1

Oregon 9 Washington 4

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Starting Pitchers:

· Oregon — RHP Cal Scolari (4-0, 3.27 ERA)

· Washington — RHP Noah Kenney (4-6, 4.40 ERA)

This morning we got our first look at the Oregon Ducks and befitting the beautiful Saturday morning, they wore their gorgeous bright green jerseys and caps.  Stunning!  And then in the other dugout it is obvious the Washington only has one uniform, stolen from their football team.

It was all Ducks today and they left no doubt.  Their power was on full display as they clubbed five home runs, all of them hit by different players.  Husky coach Eddie Smith tried to find the right pitching match-ups, but his depleted staff just could not hold down the Duck hitters.

Oregon put two in the board in the second as freshman sensation Naulivou Lauaki, Jr. started off the inning with a single.  After Husky starter Noah Kenney recorded an out, he hit Jack Brooks and gave up a single to Gabe Miranda to load the bases. He then walked the next two batters to put Oregon up 2-0.

The next five Oregon runs were all solo home runs.  Lauaki had one in the third inning, Drew Smith and Brayden Jaksa went back-to-back in the fifth, and Brooks and Miranda went back-to-back in the sixth.  It was quite the power display for the team from the Pacific Northwest.  They added two more runs in the bottom of the eighth to make it 9-0, which was the final score. 

Washington put the lead-off man on base a number of times but came up short of putting a run on the board.  In the fifth they filled the bases but Duck starter Cal Scolari came up with his tenth strikeout of the game by getting Braeden Terry swinging.  Toby Twist came on after that for Oregon and continued the same dominance established by Scolari getting four strikeouts of his own. 

Michael Meckna, an Elkhorn South graduate, came on to finish the game for the Ducks with one out in the ninth and gave up a first pitch single to Ethan Swidler to fill the bases.  Ty Cowan then turned the young man’s homecoming into something he’d rather forget by blasting a grand slam home run.  Meckna then redeemed himself by getting the next two batters out.  

Oregon’s 9-4 win moves them into tonight’s semifinal against Nebraska.  Washington can take some satisfaction in their tournament performance pulling off two upsets to get the chance to play today.

Game 2

UCLA 5 USC 4

Starting Pitchers:

· UCLA — RHP Michael Barnett (6-0, 4.03 ERA)

· USC — RHP Grant Govel (10-2, 2.76 ERA)

Among all of the complaining from fans of the west coast teams on social media, Los Angeles rivals USC and UCLA faced off against each other on time in Omaha today.  Charles Schwab Field is the best site of the B1G tournament.  Heck, even if they put it somewhere on the west coach – or the east coast – Nebraska fans will still out-number those of any other school!

UCLA head coach John Savage opted to go with six-win righthander Michael Barnett to go against 10-2 Grant Govel for the Trojans.  The Men of Troy came out quick in the first inning as Abbrie Covarrubias let off with a single and scored two batters later on a double by Augie Lopez.

They took a three-run lead in the top of the third when Adrian Lopez laced a one-out double and scored when the other Lopez had his second hit of the game.  After a Kevin Takeuchi single, Augie Lopez scored on a sacrifice fly by Issac Cadena. The Trojans were up 3-0.

In the bottom of the same inning, Dominic Cadiz led off with a single and scored on a Mulivai Levu single.  That cut the lead to 3-1.  UCLA got on the board again in the bottom of the fourth when Will Gasparino singled with one out for his second hit of the game.  This hit changed the game as it was a line drive right back at Govel at 112-mph.  Govel was able to turn his upper body so the blow was to his back.  He would finish the inning, but did not come back for the fifth inning.

USC prevented UCLA from tying the game in the bottom of the fifth.  With Mulivai Levu on first and two out, Roman Martin lined a double into the right-center gap.  Centerfielder Walter Urbon did an incredible job cutting the ball off, spinning and firing the ball to the cut-off man Abbrie Covarrubias, who then fired a strike home where catcher Andrew Lamb put the tag on Levu.  USC maintained a 3-2 lead after five innings.

UCLA took their first lead of the game in the bottom of the seventh inning after USC left the bases loaded in the top half.  Aidan Espinoza pinch-hit for Cadiz and singled.  Two batters later Dean West hit a two-run homer to put the Bruins up 4-3.

Neither team score in the eighth so going to the ninth, UCLA coach John Savage brought in their closer Easton Hawk.  He struggled and actually gave the lead back to USC.  Adrian Lopez singled and Augie Lopez reached on an error.  Takeuchi then walked to load the bases with no outs.  Cardena reached on a fielder’s choice, scoring Adrian Lopez and Jack Basseer hit a sacrifice fly to score the other Lopez.  USC was ahead 5-4.  They had chances to add to the lead, but Hawk was able to work around the trouble he created.

One of the reasons that UCLA is the number one ranked team in the country is due in part to the fact that they have had 26 come-from-behind wins this season.  Espinoza reached on an error and was moved to second on Phoenix Call sacrifice bunt.  Trojan closer Adam Troy walked Dean West, but then got POY Roch Cholowsky to pop out to the first baseman. However, it hasn’t been Cholowsky doing the damage so far this weekend.  It’s been Mulavai Levu.  He absolutely hammered the first pitch he got from Troy over the wall in right-center field for a three-run dinger and a Bruin 7-5 victory.  It was the second game in a row that Levu had a walk-off winner.

There were four lead-changes in the game today and a total of 25 hits.  There was no quit for either team, which is what you would expect when these two rivals face each other.  UCLA is in the finals for the second year in a row and will take on the winner of Nebraska and Oregon.  USC will catch a flight back to SoCal and wait to see if they are selected to host a regional.

Game 3

Oregon vs. Nebraska

You will want to got to Aaron’s article for a full recap of today’s semifinal game.

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