If there were any doubts how UCLA’s baseball team might respond to its first real test of adversity, they vanished with a flurry of home runs and exceptional relief pitching on Sunday, leading to a doubleheader sweep in the NCAA regional playoffs and forcing a final game on Monday against Loyola Marymount to decide a super regional berth.
The Bruins (50-9), ranked No. 1 nationally for 11 consecutive weeks, woke up early Sunday still drained from dropping into the loser’s bracket of the Los Angeles Regional and having to come up with a plan to find enough pitching depth to avoid elimination after Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Lions.