UCLA
CSUN
Bruins Travel to CSUN Tuesday, Host NC Dinos Wednesday
February 27, 2017 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES - The UCLA baseball team will travel to CSUN on Tuesday for its first road game of the season with first pitch set for 2 p.m. (PT), followed by hosting the NC Dinos of the Korean Baseball Organization in an exhibition game on Wednesday at 4 p.m. (PT) at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Wednesday's game against NC Dinos will be free of admission.
Probable Starters
Tuesday, Feb. 28 - 2:00 p.m. (PT)
UCLA โ Justin Hooper, LHP, So. (0-0, 4.76 ERA)
CSUN โ Drake Atlee, RHP, Sr. (0-0, 5.40 ERA)
Wednesday, March 1 - 4:00 p.m. (PT)
UCLA โ TBA
NCD โ TBA
Live Audio | CSUN Live Video | CSUN Live Stats | NC Dinos Live Stats
Weekend in Review
UCLA went 2-1 this past weekend against Gonzaga to win its second-straight series to start the season.
- On Friday, UCLA dropped its series opener, 2-1, in 10 innings to Gonzaga. Griffin Canning tied a career-high with 12 strikeouts in 7.0 innings and Nick Valaika hit his first career home run.
- On Saturday, the Bruins won 6-1 as Sean Bouchard hit two home runs and drove in four RBIs, while Jake Bird set a career high with seven strikeouts over 6.0 shutout innings.
- Sean Bouchard became the first Bruin since 2015 to hit two home runs in a game on Saturday.
- On Sunday, UCLA won the series with a 5-4 victory. Jake Pries collected three hits including a home run and the Bruins bullpen recorded 5.0 shutout innings. Nick Scheidler earned his first career win and Brian Gadsby collected his first save of the season.
- Jake Pries, Nick Valaika and Chase Strumpf each hit their first career home runs over the weekend.
- Head Coach John Savage coached his 900th career game as a Division I coach on Sunday.
Scouting CSUN
The Matadors come into Tuesday's midweek game with a 3-4 record after dropping three out of four games to Towson over the weekend. Offensively, CSUN is led by Kevin Riley, hitting a team-best .379 with one home run and four doubles, and Albee Weiss with a team-high nine RBIs. Drake Altee will be making his first start of the season after appearing in three games and recording a 5.40 ERA.
The Bruins vs. The Matadors
UCLA has faced CSUN 66 previous times, posting a record of 35-30-1 against the Matadors. The Bruins last played CSUN in 2016 when UCLA dropped a pair of midweek games to the Matadors. In the last 10 games, UCLA is 7-3 against the Matadors and under John Savage, UCLA is 13-5 against CSUN.
NCAA Rankings
UCLA as a team is ranked in the top-50 in a number of categories:
- 3rd in ERA - 1.64
- 3rd in hits allowed per nine innings - 5.24
- 15th in fielding percentage - 0.986
- 17th in WHIP - 1.02
- 30th in strikeouts per nine innings - 10.1
UCLA in the Rankings
The Bruins have cracked the top-25 of a national poll for the first time this season as Collegiate Baseball has UCLA ranked No. 20 in the country.
Savage to Lead USA Baseball
UCLA Head Coach John Savage was named the manager for the 2017 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. Savage previously served as an assistant coach on the 2000 USA Baseball Collegiate National Team. The 2000 team finished the summer with a 27-3-1 record that won a gold medal at Haarlem Baseball Week in the Netherlands. The U.S. will host three international friendship series against Chinese Taipei, Cuba, and Japan in 2017.
Preseason Rankings
The Bruins were tabbed to finish fifth in the Preseason Pac-12 Coaches Poll. UCLA received 54 points overall. Prior to the season, D1Baseball.com ranked the top position players in the country and several Bruins made the positional lists:
- Griffin Canning - SP - No. 16
- Sean Bouchard - 1B - No. 24
- Nick Valaika - SS - No. 38
- Ryan Kreidler - 3B - No. 39
- Chase Strumpfย - 2B - No. 39
- Brian Gadsby - RP - No. 39
- Michael Toglia - OF -ย No. 50
- Jake Bird - SP - No. 85
- Daniel Amaral - OF - No. 149
- Jon Olsen - SP - No. 165
- Justin Hooper - SP - No. 200
Bruin Debuts
In total, 11 UCLA players made their collegiate debuts through the first six games. Ryan Kreidler is hitting .316 with four RBIs and drove in the game-winning run on Opening Day. Nick Scheidler has thrown 3.1 shutout innings and earned his first career win on Sunday. Michael Toglia started all six games in right field and collected his first career double and RBI. Gavin Johns made his first start behind the plate against UC Riverside and went 1-for-2 in his debut.
Baby Bruins
The Bruins welcome 14 newcomers to Westwood for the 2017 season. The recruiting class was ranked No. 16 by Baseball America. Three newcomers had been previously selected in the MLB draft as Ryan Kreidler, Michael Toglia and Jeremy Ydens were each 2016 MLB Draft selections. Over the summer, Toglia was named the MVP of the West Coast League in 2016 after hitting .306 with a league-best seven home runs and 40 RBIs. Toglia (No. 8), Kreidler (No. 22) and Chase Strumpf (No. 85) were named to D1Baseball's Top Freshman Prospects list. Incoming catcher Will McInerny was named the 2016 CIF-SS Division 4 Player of the Year, while Gavin Johns transferred from Yavapai College and was named an All-NJCAA Region second team selection.
It's a Family Affair
UCLA has bred a strong athletic tradition and many current players are following in the footsteps of their notable family members.
- Daniel Amaral's father Rich and brother Beau played baseball at UCLA, while his sister Jessica played softball.
- Jordan Myrow's father John and godfather Dave Roberts played baseball at UCLA.
- Jake Pries' father Jeff played baseball at UCLA.
- Nick Valaika's brother Pat played baseball at UCLA and was a member of the 2013 National Championship.
Watch Live
UCLA is scheduled to be featured on television at least 16 times in 2017 with 15 of those contests being carried by the conference's Pac-12 Networks. The Bruins first TV game will be the Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic matchup with USC on March 5.
Listen Live
This season all 56 regular season games and any potential postseason games will be broadcast live online at uclabruins.com. UCLA radio veterans John Ramey and Tim Wilhelm return to call all of the action at home and on the road.
Follow UCLA Baseball
Follow UCLA Baseball all season long on their various social media platforms.
Twitter: @uclabaseball
Instagram: @uclabruinsbaseball
Facebook: UCLA Baseball
Snapchat: ucla.athletics
