2010 NCAA Regional Baseball Tournament: LA Regional Championship Round

Two West Coast baseball powers were locked in a tough, tight ballgame. A late-spring California evening crackled with intensity, and a nervous crowd braced for a dramatic finish in the City of Angels.

Cody Regis insisted on putting an end to all the Hollywood drama.

Regis, UCLA's third baseman, whacked a three-run homer in the top of the eighth to break open a 3-2 game and give the homestanding Bruins a four-run cushion. The big blow - a roundhouse punch after seven innings of cautious jabs thrown between two tough teams - enabled UCLA to capture its home-field regional and advance to the super regionals.

This game displayed UCLA's balance and versatility. On offense, four different Bruins knocked in at least one run, as the top seed in the regional refused to give away easy outs throughout its batting order. With respect to pitching, a story of balance and depth was entirely similar. Three different UCLA pitchers all performed well. Rob Rasmussen (10-2) got the win with six strong innings of five-hit ball with no walks. Setup man Erik Goeddel pitched two scoreless innings as a bridge to the ninth, by which time Regis' blast had altered the calculus of the contest. Closer Dan Klein didn't have to enter the game with a tenuous one-run lead, but Klein kept Irvine scoreless in the ninth to finish the win for UCLA.

UC Irvine starter Eric Pettis (9-5) took the loss after giving up three runs in four innings. Irvine's Matt Summers was generally very solid in five innings of long relief, but his gopher ball to Regis in the eighth crippled the Anteaters, who ended their season two games short of a regional title.

UCLA vs UC Irvine - NCAA Regional Championship Baseball Recap