Top-Five Win Powers No. 1 UCLA to Amegy Bank College Baseball Series Title
The top-ranked UCLA Bruins took down No. 4 Mississippi State in an extra inning thriller to defend their top spot and finish off an undefeated weekend against a trio of ranked SEC teams to take home the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series title in the final weekend of college baseball at Globe Life Field.
The Bruins began their stay in Arlington with a 12-5 victory over No. 20 Tennessee on Friday night before run-ruling No. 23 Texas A&M 11-1 in seven innings Saturday night, which set up a winner-take-all game with Mississippi State Sunday afternoon.
The Bulldogs entered Sunday’s contest with a perfect 11-0 record to start the season after defeating Arizona State 8-4 and Virginia Tech 15-8 in their first two games of the weekend. Will Gasparino opened the scoring with a two-run home run in the top of the 3rd inning as he extended his lead for home runs nationally with 10 on the young season. UCLA would tack on another run before the Bulldogs answered with three runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie the game.
Mississippi State took a 5-3 lead into the ninth inning and was one out away from clinching the tournament title, but a hit by pitch brought the potential No. 1 pick in the 2026 MLB Draft, Roch Cholowsky, up to the plate and the star shortstop smashed the first pitch he saw 439 feet to left center field to keep the Bruins alive. UCLA’s three-run 10th inning, punctuated by pinch hitter Aidan Espinoza’s 2-RBI triple was enough of a lead for the top-ranked Bruins to close out the Bulldogs in the bottom of the inning.
Gasparino was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player after going 5-for-11 at the plate with four home runs and seven RBIs on the weekend.
The Bruins served as the only loss for its opponents as No. 4 Mississippi State, No. 20 Tennessee and No. 23 Texas A&M all left Arlington with 2-1 records with wins over Arizona State and Virginia Tech.
The Amegy Bank College Baseball Series closed out a stretch of 30 games over three weeks at Globe Life Field. The tournaments, which began with the Shriners Children’s College Showdown before two weeks of the Amegy Bank College Baseball Series, brought in over 99,000 fans during the largest slate of college baseball ever at the stadium.
Amegy Bank College Baseball Series Results
Friday, Feb. 27
No. 4 Mississippi State def. Arizona State, 8-4
No. 1 UCLA def. No. 20 Tennessee, 12-5
No. 23 Texas A&M def. Virginia Tech, 10-0 (7 inn.)
Saturday, Feb. 28
No. 20 Tennessee def. Arizona State, 5-3
No. 4 Mississippi State def. Virginia Tech, 15-8
No. 1 UCLA def. No. 23 Texas A&M, 11-1 (7 inn.)
Sunday, March 1
No. 20 Tennessee def. Virginia Tech, 3-1
No. 1 UCLA def. No. 4 Mississippi State, 8-7 (10 inn.)
No. 23 Texas A&M def. Arizona State, 9-3