Bruins Earn First Big Ten Tournament Win, Advance to Weekend

The No. 2 seed UCLA Bruins (40-15, 22-8) just won their 40th game of the season and it was a big one, taking down the No. 11 seed Illinois Fighting Illini by a score of 8-6 in their first game of the Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday in Omaha, Nebraska.

Illinois was coming off a thrilling 6-5 win in 10 innings with the Illini hitting a go-ahead solo home run in the top of the 10th to defeat the No. 7 seed Michigan Wolverines. The Illini needed to go 2-0 in their three-team pool to advance to the weekend, while the Bruins needed just one win.

After going down 2-0 in the third inning, the Bruins answered back quickly with a five-run third. Sophomore first baseman Mulivai Levu got things started with a sac-fly, and redshirt sophomore outfielder Payton Brennan bookended the inning with a 2-run double to put UCLA up 5-2.

The Illini battled back with three runs over the three innings to tie the game at five. Both teams would trade runs over the next few frames as the game was tied at six going into the bottom of the seventh. Brennan then delivered the go-ahead RBI knock to give the Bruins a lead they would not lose.

Just two weeks ago, Brennan won a game over the Illini by stealing home plate in a 9-9 tie in the ninth inning. He comes up big against Illinois once again, helping the Bruins defeat them for the fourth time this season.

The victory would be capped off with the Big Ten Player and Defensive Player of the Year, sophomore shortstop Roch Cholowsky blasting his 21st home run of the season to give UCLA a two-run lead in the eighth inning.

Freshman right-hander Easton Hawk was called on in the ninth inning, earning his team-leading fifth save of the year. It was a bullpen day for the Bruins as head coach John Savage sent nine different pitchers to the mound. Grad senior righty August Souza would earn the win, pitching the seventh.

The win marks the Bruins as winners of Pool B, featuring Illinois and Michigan. With Illinois losing, they fell to 1-1, which eliminates them from advancing. With UCLA being the highest seed of the three teams, it would advance if all teams were tied with a 1-1 record, knocking out both lower seeds.

The Bruins will be back in action on Thursday at 8 a.m. PT, 11 a.m. ET, facing the Wolverines in a game that has zero bearing on who will advance out of the pool. Michigan already lost to the Illini on Tuesday to eliminate them, and the Bruins advanced with Wednesday's win.

Regardless of the result on Thursday morning, the Bruins are entering the single-elimination weekend action, featuring the final four teams that made it out of their respective pools. The winners on Saturday will advance to the Big Ten championship on Sunday afternoon.

Make sure that you follow us on X (Twitter) @UCLAInsideronSI and @tcav30 and never miss another Bruins breaking news story again.

Give us your thoughts and predctions on the Bruins' postseason run when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE