UCLA Bruins Insider Podcast: Baseball's Path to a National Championship

In today's episode of the UCLA Bruins Insider Podcast, we talk about the Bruins' potential path back to the College World Series National Championship for the first time since winning it all in 2013.

To watch today's episode, view below:

The Bruins baseball team advance to the College World Series after beating UTSA over the weekend. Below is a transcription of coach John Savage's postgame media availability, courtsey of UCLA Athletics:

opening statement
“Again, I think it was a team effort, a lot of guys being on the same page. That’s what we’ve been throughout the season. We’ve taken some lumps along the way, but for the most part, they’ve stayed together through thick and thin. To their credit, they believe in one another. We had outstanding pitching this weekend. We had a bunch of naysayers questioning our pitching, and you can’t question that now. At the end of the day, we had a lot of really good at-bats. Our defense was championship-level, clearly. On to the next tournament. I think this team doesn’t feel like this is the end of the journey. It wasn’t our goal to just get to Omaha. We’ve talked a lot about going and playing well, taking our game to whoever we play. I’m really excited for the guys, excited for the alumni, the fans. I’m excited for everyone involved. At the end of the day, it’s an appreciation on my behalf towards a lot of people.”

on what it means to return to Omaha after twelve years
“It tells you how difficult it is to get there, particularly in the West. They make it very difficult. There are so many great coaches and players in the West, and we beat each other up. This is for the West. Arizona won today, that was big. Oregon State’s playing tonight. I think there were 11 teams that got into the tournament, and only three could really advance into the Super Regionals. Everybody has played well, and that’s a credit to the West. It’s great to be back. I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

on the turnaround from last season to this season
“The players [made the difference]. The coaches did a great job; my assistants did a great job. I’ve always been very consistent in my approach, win, lose, or draw. It’s not easy, but we have the right cast of characters in terms of great people on this team. We have people who want to represent UCLA, represent their families. At the end of the day, they came together. We got kicked out of the stadium on day one in the fall. It’s quite the story; you could write a little bit about this. We had no home, and we came back in January. To our guys’ credit, they came back and played to the maximum of their ability all season long. Last season was a good learning experience; we played a lot of young guys. Obviously, you’re seeing the payoff right now.”

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