OMAHA, Neb. — UCLA head coach John Savage walked out of the dugout and to freshman pitcher Wylan Moss. The righty sat down the first two batters he faced Tuesday morning but stepped into trouble with a walk and a base hit. When Moss’s first pitch to LSU’s Steven Milam didn’t catch the strike zone, Savage wanted to give the righty encouragement.
Milam singled to continue the two-out rally. It was the first of four Tigers two-out RBIs on Tuesday, fifth of the game. LSU went 7-for-15 with two outs. It didn’t matter if it was Moss or one of the seven other Bruins pitchers that faced LSU. Even reliable closer Easton Hawk gave up a final RBI in the bottom of the eighth, preventing UCLA from building momentum from a scrappy eighth inning.
“Just seemed like we were swimming upstream a little bit most of the game,” Savage said.
LSU leapfrogged UCLA’s three-run first inning by scoring four, giving the Tigers an early lead on Monday night. They maintained that lead for 15 hours as storms rolled over Charles Schwab Field, forcing the game to continue Tuesday morning. LSU scored two when play resumed in the fourth. UCLA scrapped together an eighth-inning rally until Phoenix Call, the potential tying run, grounded out to shortstop, dooming the Bruins to a 9-5 loss in the Men’s College World Series. The Bruins now face Arkansas and possible elimination at 4 p.m. PDT Tuesday. The game will air on ESPN.
“We put up three and then they put up four. Then they come out and do a good job with two outs in the fourth, and they got two there,” Savage said. “And it seemed like we were just trailing a little bit from the mound, mostly.”
None of the eight pitchers used in the loss recorded more than six outs. Landon Stump allowed five runs in two-plus innings before Chris Grothues ended the third inning going into the weather delay. Moss only pitched two outs. Sophomore Cal Randall came in to provide 1.2 innings of one-hit relief. Ian May, Jack O’Connor, August Souza and Hawk combined to throw under three innings, allowing three hits, two runs and two walks.
“They were competing. Just some days you have it better than others,” said Cashel Dugger, who caught all eight pitchers. “We’re in the World Series. They’re giving it their all. Just some days you don’t have it as good as others.”
UCLA sophomore pitcher Cal Randall delivers the ball from the mound during a Men’s College World Series game against LSU on Tuesday, July 17, 2025. The Bruins lost the game that started Monday night and resumed Tuesday following a weather delay.
(Mac Brown / UCLA Athletics)
The Bruins’ bats struggled to answer the call. Collectively, UCLA lead-off batter went 1-for-11 (.091) in the game. The Bruins went 2 of 10 with two outs, 4 of 14 with runners on base. Dugger was one of three Bruins with two hits, joining Mulivai Levu and AJ Salgado.
At the core of UCLA’s offensive struggles is standout shortstop Roch Cholowsky. While his sacrifice bunt against Murray State on Saturday started a rally, he’s still without a hit in the College World Series after going 0-for-5 against LSU. He hadn’t done that since early March against UConn. Cholowsky is now hitless in his last 12 at bats.
He popped out in foul territory to start the eighth inning, where UCLA made it’s last stand. Payton Brennan scored Levu on a fielder’s choice and Blake Balsz sent an RBI single up the middle to give the Bruins momentum. Dugger then walked to load the bases. LSU brought in sophomore righty Chase Shores to face Phoenix Call, the tying run. Call swung at the first pitch, a dribbler to the shortstop. The rally ended with a flip to second.
“We had some opportunities, but at the end of the day I just thought they were the better team today,” Savage said. “So we’ve got to regroup and focus on Arkansas now.”
The Bruins dodged bad Big Ten weather all season. Now they will play their first doubleheader of the season in the College World Series. Awaiting them in the elimination game is a team riding the emotional high of a 19-strikeout no-hitter on Monday.