UCLA-Arkansas CWS Elimination Game Preview

After starting the postseason 6-0 and making it to the College World Series for the first time since 2019, the UCLA Bruins find themselves with their back against the wall ahead of their elimination game matchup against the No. 3 seeded Arkansas Razorbacks on Tuesday.

The Bruins had a stroke of bad luck against LSU. Their matchup against the No. 6 seed on Monday was rained out and suspended after three innings and had to be moved to Tuesday morning with UCLA down 5-3.

The Tigers ended up winning 9-5, sending the Bruins to the loser's bracket and one loss away from elimination in Omaha.

"It was kind of a long couple of days, really," coach John Savage said Tuesday morning. "But at the same time you've got to expect anything at the World Series, and you've got to deal with anything at the World Series. It affected both teams the same way. It didn't affect us any more, or anything like that. It's baseball. At the end of the day, we need to recover and rebound and have an opportunity tonight to get back at it."

UCLA takes on Arkansas after no-hitting Murray State on Monday to advance. The Razorbacks also roster one of the most dynamic players in college baseball, SEC Player of the Year Wehiwa Aloy. Aloy matches up with UCLA's Roch Cholowsky. Both players have been in conversations among the best players in the nation.

The Tigers were UCLA's first top-16 seeded opponent of the postseason. UTSA upset No. 2 Texas in regionals, meaning the Bruins didn't match up with a ranked opponent until Monday. Savage lauded the youth of his team all season and admitted postgame that LSU could have benfitted from having more expereince.

"You're playing really good teams," Savage said. "There are some teams that have a little more youth. There are some teams that have a little more experience. There's teams that have more age. You have to deal with it all, really. It's not bad or good or indifferent really if you're either/or. But at the same time, I think they showed their experience today and last night. We had some opportunities, but at the end of the day I just thought they were the better team today. So we've got to regroup and focus on Arkansas now."

In another stroke of misfortune, this will be UCLA's first doubleheader of the season. Savage acknowledges how lucky (or unlucky) they've been to not have to had played two games in one day, but also says it's part of the World Series.

"Yeah, we haven't played a double-header. That is surprising in some ways," he said. "We don't deal with weather in LA much obviously in the west certainly in that league. We dodged it. But it's the World Series. You've got to deal with anything that comes your way. If you have to play a doubleheader you have to play a doubleheader. If you feel sorry for yourself, you're not going to be playing very long. It's the nature of the game. We'll be ready to go tonight. It's not a doubleheader back-to-back, right? You've got to sit for a game. It's not the schedule. No one planned it like this. We have to deal with it. We'll be fine. We're big boys."

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