Mark Wasikowski’s message sparks Oregon Baseball upset ending UCLA's perfect season

After the Ducks were mercy ruled on Friday Night in Game 1 of the 3 game set against UCLA, head coach Mike Wasikowski told his team they shouldn't just brush the game off like most coaches would.

"What I told them is, ‘Think about this one', This one should hurt. It shouldn’t just be a put-your-cleats-in-the-bag-and-get-on-to-the-next-one kind of thing. You should process this one. You should rehearse it in your brain so by the time you go to bed tonight, then you can get it out of your system and you can show up tomorrow and have some competitiveness."

Mike Wasikowski

Beating UCLA in any of these 3 games is a tough ask, as the Bruins came into the weekend with a stellar 45-4 record while they were searching for the first undefeated season in Big Ten history with a 25-0 record heading into Saturday.

The Ducks clearly took the message to heart coming into Saturday's matchup, bringing that level of competitiveness that Wasikowski was calling for in a highly emotional game.

In the 1st inning, it looked like UCLA may deliver a similar performance to the one we saw on Friday Night as they raced out to a 4-0 lead. Likely 1st overall pick Roch Cholowsky mashed a solo home run to get the scoring started before the Bruins used 3 hits and 2 walks to push another 3 runs across.

Oregon showed they were here to compete against the Nation's top ranked team in the top of the second instantly tying the game. Gabe Miranda brought home Angel Laya with an RBI double before Naulivou Lauaki evened the score with a 3 run blast off the batter's eye in center.

Cal Scolari came up big for Oregon in the 5th inning after allowing a double as he recorded a strikeout and a flyout to keep the score at 5-4. Scolari came back out for the 6th inning and threw up another 0 with three strikeouts to breathe energy back into the team.

That energy continued when Jack Brooks worked a one out walk and started to cause chaos on the basepaths. Brooks started by stealing second, and then had UCLA so concerned he was going to take 3rd that the Bruins balked him to 3rd base. The chaos on the bases allowed Brooks to score and tie the game on a Ryan Cooney groundout.

Right after the momentum was back in Oregon's favor, Roch Cholowsky struck again with a solo shot to give the Bruins a 6-5 lead.

With Easton Hawk waiting in the UCLA bullpen, trying to push a run across in the 8th inning was key. Roch Cholowsky was perfectly positioned, taking a leadoff single away before Zach Strickland got a strikeout, but an Angel Laya single forced UCLA to go to their closer to try and pick up a 4 out save.

Maddox Molony stepped in against Hawk and instantly delivered a looping ball into right field that UCLA's Brennan couldn't reel in with a dive, allowing Laya to come around from 1st base and avoid the tag at the plate to tie the game.

Gabe Miranda then worked a walk, followed by a high chopper by Naulivou Lauakis loaded the bases for Jack Brooks. When Oregon needed it most, Brooks delivered with a bases clearing double to give Oregon its first lead of the weekend at 9-6.

Tanner Bradley delivered a scoreless 8th inning, and in the 9th it was only right that the Ducks would have to face Cholowsky one last time to get through the Bruins. When Bradley was able to jam Cholowsky to get the first out of the inning, Oregon was finally able to breathe easy as he quickly discarded Luvu and Martin to pick up the win.

Picking up a win over the top-seeded UCLA Bruins is massive for the Ducks with the postseason around the corner as it'll boost the resume with another Quad 1 win and a boost in RPI. Winning the series on Sunday would be incredible for the Ducks as they continue to push for the chance to host a regional, and it could even spark this team towards hosting a Super.

The way that Oregon battled the entire night from the 1st inning on should be more encouraging than the result itself. Coach Waz handed the team a massive challenge, and the team took the message they were given on the field Friday Night to heart. This team could've easily quit in the 1st inning when the Bruins jumped out to a big lead, but to battle back in the way that they did is a major statement.

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