This marks Baylor’s third straight NCAA regional appearance, and the second year in a row that the NCAA sent the Bears to California. Last year, Baylor was the No. 2 seed in the Palo Alto Regional hosted by No. 2 national seed Stanford, where the Bears went 1-2.

“What’s great is, and I tell our guys this all the time, you’re going to have to go through the best teams in the country to get to Omaha,” Baylor coach Steve Rodriguez said. “I’m comfortable with where we’re going, our pitching staff, the teams we’re going to be playing, are all going to be very good. Loyola just won their conference tournament. UCLA, obviously, No. 1 team in the country. So, I know we’re going to have our work cut out for us. But at the same time, I’m really excited about our guys being able to go out and see a different part of the country and play against some different teams.”

Many of Baylor’s veteran players have played at UCLA before, as the Bears took on the Bruins in Los Angeles in February of last season, dropping two of three. That gives them some familiarity with both the setting and the opponent, so they’re not exactly flying blind.