Podcast: UCLA Earns First-Ever Big Ten Title

Our latest episode of the UCLA Bruins Insider Podcast breaks down how UCLA was able to win a share of the Big Ten regular season title with a series win over Northwestern and some help from a familiar foe.

UCLA players celebrates as they break out the bats in the 7th inning to defeat the Oregon Ducks at PK Park in Eugene April 19, 2025 | Chris Pietsch/The Register-Guard / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

The No. 14 UCLA Bruins (39-15, 22-8) earned a share of the Big Ten regular season title on Saturday afternoon, defeating the Northwestern Wildcats (25-27, 13-17) and tying for first place in the conference.

In this episode of the UCLA Bruins Insider Podcast, UCLA Bruins On SI beat writer Tom Cavanaugh breaks down how the Bruins were able to climb back and become Big Ten champions in their first season in the conference.

You can watch the episode below:

The Bruins were in a three-team race for the conference title with the No. 5 Oregon Ducks (41-13, 22-8) and Iowa Hawkeyes (32-20-1, 21-9). They gained some assistance from the Ducks, who swept Iowa this past weekend in Iowa City, knocking the Hawkeyes out of contention.

UCLA dropped its series opener at home to Northwestern, battling back with a pair of impressive wins over the weekend. Game 2 featured an 8-2 victory, and Sunday's Game 3 was a must-win if it wanted to become co-champion. It blasted the Wildcats with an 11-1 win in a seven-inning mercy rule.

Sophomore right hander Landon Stump earned the victory in Sunday's clincher, tossing 6.2 innings, allowing one run on four hits with five strikeouts, improving to 6-0 on the year. Both sophomore Mulivai Levu and redshirt senior AJ Salgado finished with three RBIs.

Salgado went deep for his 12th home run of the year while sophomore Roman Martin blasted his seventh on a two-run shot in the sixth inning. The Bruins finish the regular season with the sixth-most home runs in the Big Ten with 70.

The Ducks finished with the same conference record at 22-8, earning the other share of the title. Both teams will likely be two of the top 16 seeds, nationally, hosting a regional in the NCAA Tournament, despite their performances in the Big Ten tournament.

The conference title marks the fifth of head coach John Savage's career, winning four Pac-12 championships and picking up right where he left off in 2019 with a Big Ten title. His team bounced back in a big way after an underwhelming 19-33 season, one year ago.

Due to the Bruins losing two of three on the road to the Ducks just a few weeks back, they fall to the wrong side of the tiebreaker and have secured the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament. UCLA will face the No. 11 seed Illinois and No. 7 seed Michigan in the first two games of the tournament.

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