2010 NCAA Super Regionals: UCLA vs Cal State Fullerton

UCLA 8, Cal State Fullerton 1 - Bruins win series, 2-1; UCLA advances to 2010 College World Series

The dream scenario for any college baseball team is to play in the College World Series. The dream route to baseball success is for a team to get a dominating performance from its starting pitcher in a put-up-or-shut-up moment.

The UCLA Bruins achieved their grand goal on Sunday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles. They did so because they found the big-game ingredient that makes baseball so much easier to endure.

In a Game 3 crucible that was going to give one Southern California team a ticket to Omaha, Nebraska, UCLA received the mound mastery and clutch pitching a starter is supposed to deliver. In the face of a formidable lineup posed by the Cal State Fullerton Titans, a young man named Rob Rasmussen took the ball from his coach and never let go of it. In the process, a contest that was expected to be close turned into a UCLA runaway.

Fullerton had high hopes when this Golden State showdown began, but those hopes were squashed by a pitcher who wouldn't allow them to breathe.

Following a draining 11-7 UCLA win in extra innings the night before, both teams needed a lock-down effort from their starters. Fullerton's Dylan Floro was okay on Sunday, giving up just four earned runs in 6 1/3 innings, but Rasmussen wrested this series from Fullerton's grasp. College baseball is a run-scoring sport, but CSF's aluminum bats fell silent against the UCLA hurler. Rasmussen pitched a complete-game gem that any great moundsman would admire. He allowed just two hits and one walk in nine innings of brilliance, and was virtually untouchable after surviving a rocky first inning when Fullerton plated its only run on a Tyler Pill RBI groundout.

UCLA didn't need much offense on its home field, and while Beau Amaral contributed three hits and three RBI for the Bruins, this game was decided not by a bat or a pitch, but by a defensive misplay. With the score tied at 1-1 in the third, CSF centerfielder Joey Siddons dropped a fly ball off the bat of UCLA's Tyler Rahmatulla. The error scored both Amaral and teammate Steve Rodriguez, and the Bruins owned a 3-1 advantage. With extra tack-on runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth frames, Rasmussen - given more of a cushion - continued to cruise, and this series - which lit up L.A. with its electric intensity on Friday and Saturday - ended tamely in Game 3.

Not that anyone on the UCLA roster had any reason to complain. Same for a delighted home crowd that reveled in its team's journey to college baseball's promised land.

UCLA vs Cal State Fullerton - NCAA Baseball Super Regional (Best-of-Three)