The UCLA and USC baseball teams are in the driver’s seat in their NCAA baseball regionals.
Roman Martin belted a grand slam in a seven-run second inning and high-scoring UCLA rolled past Arizona State, 11-5, on Saturday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium to reach the championship round of the Los Angeles Regional.
The Bruins (44-16) added two runs in the third. Dean West doubled to right center for one run and Roch Cholowsky drove in West with a single up the middle. UCLA added single runs in the fifth and eighth innings.
The Bruins, who crushed Fresno State, 19-4, on Friday, got their 11 runs on 12 hits, three hits coming from Payton Brennan.
UCLA awaits the winner of Sunday’s 3 p.m. elimination game between Arizona State (36-23) and UC Irvine (42-16). The winner of that game would need to beat UCLA later on Sunday (approximately 7 p.m.) and again on Monday to win the four-team regional.
UCLA would advance to a best-of-three super regional with one win either Sunday or Monday.
Arizona State got two RBIs from Brody Briggs.
Ian May (7-3) pitched five innings and allowed three runs, two earned, in relief of starter Landon Stump.
Jack Martinez (6-4) gave up seven runs in the first 1⅔ innings for ASU.
UCLA has seven regional championships and won the College World Series in 2013.
ASU has a storied history in college baseball with 20 CWS appearances and five national championships, the last in 1981.
In the Corvallis (Ore.) Regional …
USC 6, Saint Mary’s 4: Ethan Hedges hit two solo home runs and USC defeated Saint Mary’s on Saturday night to reach the championship round.
Hedges gave the Trojans (37-21) a 1-0 lead with a one-out home run in the bottom of the first inning.
Saint Mary’s (36-25) went ahead on a two-run home run by Diego Castellanos in the second inning. The Gaels made it 3-1 when Aide Taurek homered to lead off the fourth.
USC tied it in the bottom of the inning when Augie Lopez blasted a two-run homer to right-center field and Hedges’ one-out homer in the fifth gave the Trojans the lead for good.
Richard Tejeda delivered an RBI single in the sixth for a 5-3 lead.
Cody Kashimoto’s sacrifice fly in the eighth got the Gaels within 5-4 but Maximo Martinez got the run back for USC with an RBI-single in the bottom of the inning.
USC’s Caden Hunter pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his first save of the season. Starter Mason Edwards (3-0) got the win, allowing three runs in 5⅓ innings.
John Damozonio (4-3) took the loss for Saint Mary’s (36-25).
USC (37-21) advances to the championship round, a win away from the super regionals. Saint Mary’s will play an elimination game against regional host Oregon State (42-13-1) on Sunday at 3 p.m. with the winner needing to beat USC later on Sunday (approximately 7 p.m.) and again on Monday to win the four-team regional.
USC would advance to a super regional with one win either Sunday or Monday.