B1G Baseball Semi Final Recap and Finals Preview
The B1G Baseball Tournament is coming down to the wire with UCLA and Nebraska now the last two teams left standing.
With Nebraska and Oregon’s Friday night matchup moved to Saturday morning, it’s been an exciting day of B1G baseball. Saturday Semi Finals were scheduled to be UCLA v. Iowa and Penn State v. the winner of the Huskers/Ducks game. Nebraska prevailed yet again setting the stage for another strong local crowd here in Omaha. Let’s get to the action.
Game 1: UCLA and Iowa square off
Saturday’s matchup between the two respective top Pool seeds had not only B1G Baseball Tournament ramifications but potential implications for the NCAA tournament.
Iowa sent Aaron Savary to the mound to square off against an electric UCLA offense and hopefully add a boost to the Hawkeyes’ RPI. Unfortunately for Iowa the Bruins offense was too much to handle.
UCLA scored in the third, fourth, sixth, and eighth innings. The Bruins’ starting pitcher, Michael Barnett, improved to 11-1 with 5 IP and only 2 R. The Hawkeyes made Barnett work, throwing exactly 100 pitches in the contest.
Iowa now has to wait for a tricky NCAA case on Selection Monday. They finish the regular season 33-22-1 (21-9 Big Ten).
Game 2: Penn State’s Cinderella run ends against Nebraska on their home turf
Saturday’s rematch of the 2024 B1G Championship came down to the wire, but the Nebraska Huskers prevailed. Penn State briefly held a 3-2 lead in the fourth before Nebraska regained the advantage in the bottom of the inning and didn’t look back. The score remained 4-2 until the eighth inning when left fielder Gabe Swansen stepped to the plate.
The two run blast provided the extra cushion Huskers junior Luke Broderick needed. The Nittany Lions put up a late rally in the ninth inning, bringing the tying run to the plate, but it wasn’t enough against a Huskers team fueled by home cooking in Omaha. Broderick closed the game off and Charles Schwab was rocking on a cool, rainy night.
B1G Finals Preview
UCLA (42-15 overall) is led by B1G Player of the Year, Cholowsky. The sophomore sensation not only leads UCLA offensively, but he plays a strong shortstop. Cholowsky turned down millions from teams in the 2023 MLB Draft because he was chasing a trip to Omaha.
He’s technically achieved that with UCLA’s trip to the B1G Baseball Tournament, but it’s really the Men’s College World Series he’s after, which begins play Friday, June 13th in Omaha. UCLA is projected to host an NCAA Regional which puts the Bruins in a prime position to earn that trip to the MCWS that Cholowsky dreams of.
A tournament championship at the B1G could be just setting the stage for more Omaha dream moments later. UCLA isn’t just Roch and a bag of rocks. Senior AJ Salgado, sophomore Roman Martin, and sophomore Mulivai Levu are all key offensive performers and sophomore Dean West sets the table.
The Bruins will face off against the Huskers who prevailed with a gauntlet of a schedule Saturday. The Huskers pitching staff will be operating on less rest, but Nebraska is playing like a team taking charge of their NCAA destiny.
Nobody put it better than Swansen in his post-game interview. Nicknamed Mr. May for his prolific work late in the season for Nebraska, “We’ve got to play like it’s our last game” Swansen said. A win tomorrow and their season continues.
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