berg was only recruited by the university of california, irvine and the university of california, los angeles (ucla). berg enrolled at ucla, and walked on to the ucla bruins baseball team. in 2012, his freshman season, berg set bruins and pac-12 conference records for appearances while working in middle relief. as a sophomore, berg became the closer for the 2013 ucla bruins, and pitched to a 7–0 win–loss record, 21 saves, and a 0.88 earned run average (era) during the regular season. his 21 saves set a bruins record and his era tied for the best in college baseball. he was named the pac-12 conference baseball pitcher of the year and a finalist for the national pitcher of the year award in 2013. he won the ncbwa stopper of the year award. was named to the united states national collegiate baseball team in 2012 and 2013.