Oregon gains ground on UCLA in battle for NCAA baseball regional hosting slots
Matt Zemek
 | UCLA Wire
UCLA baseball, which lost to Northwestern on Thursday night, needs to bounce back on Friday and Saturday. The Bruins are near the cut line for hosting a regional at the NCAA Tournament. One Big Ten team hot on the heels of the Bruins is Oregon. Ducks Wire noted that Oregon hammered Iowa on Thursday to boost UO’s own chances of hosting a regional:
“The Ducks run-ruled Iowa 10-0 thanks to four home runs on offense and an absolute masterpiece turned in from Grayson Grinsell on the mound to propel Oregon to its eighth straight win. The left-handed ace threw a complete game shutout in 117 pitches, where he gave up just two hits while striking out eight and walking just one. It was Grinsell’s ninth win of the season.
“With the win in seven innings, Oregon moved within a game a first place at 20-8 in conference action and 39-13 overall. Meanwhile, Iowa fell to 21-7 in Big Ten play and 32-18-1 overall.”
Recent USA TODAY Sports projections for the NCAA Tournament had UCLA as the No. 11 national seed, Oregon at 14. However, after Thursday’s results, the Ducks could be ahead of the Bruins in the national pecking order.
UCLA and Oregon might both host an NCAA regional, but the Bruins need to make sure that Oregon does not pass them on the seed list.