UCLA shares Big Ten championship with Oregon after beating Northwestern in finale

UCLA wins the Big Ten baseball title in its first season in the conference.

UCLA baseball can call itself a Big Ten champion. The Bruins and Oregon Ducks tied for the Big Ten title. They will share the conference championship after both teams won on Saturday. UCLA crushed Northwestern, 11-1, while Oregon went on the road and smacked around Iowa 13-4 to share the title with the Bruins. Ducks Wire has more:

“The Ducks finish the regular season on a major high, winning 10 straight games with an overall record of 41-13 and 22-8 in conference action. With this sweep, they are almost guaranteed to host one of the 16 regionals in the NCAA tournament. The only question now is whether Oregon will be one of the eight national seeds to host a possible Super Regional.

“But first, the Ducks needed to complete the sweep in Iowa City, and they got the job done rather easily. Third baseman Cater Garate hit two of Oregon’s five home runs on the day, driving in five, and Jacob Walsh drove in three more in the regular season finale. Iowa was actually up 1-0 after an inning, but starter Jason Reitz settled in, went 5.2 innings, allowing just that one run on four hits to go to 5-0 on the season.”

Ducks Wire’s note about Oregon hosting a super regional is important. Oregon and UCLA are both in the hunt for a hosting spot. The upcoming Big Ten Tournament might determine if one or both schools get one of the 16 regional hosting positions. Oregon will be the No. 1 seed at the Big Ten Tournament, UCLA No. 2.