Phoenix Call's walk-off HBP lifts UCLA to Big Ten Championship, 3-2 over Oregon in 11 innings
Phoenix Call was grazed by a pitch with two outs and the bases full in the bottom of the 11th inning and UCLA defeated Oregon 3-2 to win the Big Ten Championship
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Phoenix Call was grazed by a pitch with two outs and the bases full in the bottom of the 11th inning and UCLA defeated Oregon 3-2 on Sunday to win the Big Ten Championship.
It was the top-seeded and top-ranked Bruins' third walk-off win of the tournament and they benefited from two close calls in the winning rally. With nobody out in the 11th, Roman Martin advanced from second to third on a bunt by Jarrod Hocking. Martin was called safe on the tight play and the ruling stood after Oregon challenged the call.
The play loaded the bases and after Devin Bell struck out two UCLA batters, Call was hit on the shoulder by a pitch from Bell, allowing Martin to score. Again, the play was challenged and stood up to review, giving the Bruins the Big Ten title in their second season in the conference.
No. 14 Oregon, the third seed, led 2-1 heading to the bottom of the ninth inning but UCLA's Aidan Espinoza tied it with an RBI single to right field.
UCLA's Will Gasparino drove in the game's first run with a triple in the fourth inning. He was then caught in a rundown and tagged out. Ultimately, he was ejected for malicious contact on the play, adding to the contentious rivalry between the two former Pac-12 teams. Earlier in May, an assistant coach from each team was ejected during a series in Eugene.
The Ducks took a 2-1 lead in the sixth inning when Burke-Lee Mabeus and Naulivou Lauaki hit back-to-back home runs. Oregon had one runner reach base in the final five innings.
Recommended for you
UCLA defeated Purdue in the quarterfinals on a walk-off sacrifice fly by Mulivai Levu and his three-run home run in the ninth inning knocked off USC in the semifinals.
Oregon, like UCLA, is a second-year member of the Big Ten.
Up next
The NCAA Tournament field will be announced on Monday. ___
Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO
personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who
make comments. Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd,
racist or sexually-oriented language. Don't threaten. Threats of harming another
person will not be tolerated. Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone
or anything. Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on
each comment to let us know of abusive posts. PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK. Anyone violating these rules will be issued a
warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be
revoked.
Please purchase a Premium Subscription to continue reading.
To continue, please log in, or sign up for a new account.
We offer one free story view per month. If you register for an account, you will get two additional story views. After those three total views, we ask that you support us with a subscription.
A subscription to our digital content is so much more than just access to our valuable content. It means you’re helping to support a local community institution that has, from its very start, supported the betterment of our society. Thank you very much!
(0) comments
Welcome to the discussion.
Log In
Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
Keep it clean. Please avoid obscene, vulgar, lewd, racist or sexually-oriented language.
Don't threaten. Threats of harming another person will not be tolerated.
Be truthful. Don't knowingly lie about anyone or anything.
Be proactive. Use the 'Report' link on each comment to let us know of abusive posts.
PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
Anyone violating these rules will be issued a warning. After the warning, comment privileges can be revoked.