OMAHA, Neb. -- John Savage, whose UCLA team was ranked No. 1 the entire regular season and matched its program record with 52 wins, was named Skip Bertman Coach of the Year by the College Baseball Foundation on Saturday.
The Bruins swept the Big Ten Conference regular-season and tournament titles and were the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, losing in regionals. Their 48 regular-season wins were most in program history and they finished 52-8. The award is named for the longtime LSU coach.
"Having Skip Bertman's name on the trophy says everything," Savage said. "He's the legend of legends in this game. As a young coach out West, I always admired and looked up to Skip."
UCLA posted a 51-6 record heading into the Los Angeles Regional, and secured the Big Ten tournament title with a title-game victory over Oregon. But a week later, the Bruins went 1-2 on their home field, Jackie Robinson Stadium, and their season ended with Saint Mary's improbable 6-5 win on June 1.
"That's a tough clubhouse to leave. Those guys have been such wonderful Bruins, teammates, and guys to coach," Savage said after the loss. "They've won over 100 games in the last two years. No one in the country's done that. Do the math. Obviously, this weekend, we did not play up to our standards."
UC Santa Barbara's Jackson Flora was named national pitcher of the year, Daniel Jackson of Georgia won the Buster Posey Award as the nation's top catcher, Nebraska's Dylan Carey won the Brooks Wallace Award as the nation's top shortstop, and Florida Gulf Coast's Evan Dempsey won the John Olerud Award for the second straight year as the top two-way player.
Gene Stephenson, who won a national championship and more than 1,800 games at Wichita State from 1978-2013, won the Wayne Graham Award for Teaching Excellence. Graham, who died in 2024, was longtime coach at Rice.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
