No. 1 UCLA punched its ticket to the Big Ten Championship Game on a walk-off home run from Mulivai Levu in a tournament semifinal against USC. The homer ended the game in dramatic fashion and sent UCLA into the title game with the kind of finish that changes a postseason bracket in one swing.

Levu drove in four runs, while Dean West added two RBIs and scored twice. Augie Lopez and Isaac Cadena each finished with two RBIs, Jack Basseer had one, and Dominic Cadiz also drove in a run. UCLA’s offense spread the damage across the lineup, with Adrian Lopez scoring twice, Augie Lopez scoring twice and adding a stolen base, Cadena and Hayden Woodson each stealing a base, and Abbrie Covarrubias, Will Gasparino, Cadiz, Aidan Espinoza and Jarrod Hocking each scoring once.

The result came in the Big Ten Conference tournament semifinal, where every inning carried added weight because the winner moved on and the loser went home. UCLA Athletics’ tournament recap underscored just how many pieces contributed to the victory, from the top-ranked team’s run production to the pressure the lineup kept applying on the bases. That depth mattered as much as the final swing.

There was still a sharp edge to the win. UCLA did not rely on one player until the very end, then Levu finished it anyway. That is the balance this team showed against USC: steady scoring throughout the game, then a walk-off homer when the moment demanded a finish. The title game now becomes the next test of whether that kind of late punch can carry one more step.