OMAHA, Neb. — UCLA’s John Savage, whose team was ranked No. 1 the entire regular season and matched its program record with 52 wins, received the Skip Bertman honor Saturday in being named national coach of the year by the College Baseball Foundation.
The Bruins swept the Big Ten Conference regular-season and tournament titles and were the No. 1 seed in the NCAA Division I tournament, though their season ended at home on the opening weekend in the double-elimination Pasadena Regional. Their 48 regular-season wins were most in program history, and they finished 52-8.
The award is named for the former longtime LSU coach who led the Tigers to five College World Series championships.
“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.”
UC Santa Barbara’s Jackson Flora was named national pitcher of the year, Georgia’s Daniel Jackson 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.