UCLA
Texas
UCLA Travels to Texas for Weekend Series
March 09, 2017 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA baseball team will hit the road this weekend for its first weekend road series of the season when it travels to Texas to face the Longhorns in a three-game set starting on Friday at 4:30 p.m. PT. All three games of the series will be broadcast live on the Longhorn Network.
Probable Starters
Friday, March 10 - 4:30 p.m. PT
UCLA โ Griffin Canning, RHP, Jr. (0-0, 0.00 ERA)
TEXAS - Nolan Kingham, RHP, So. (2-1, 0.00 ERA)
Saturday, March 11 - 2:00 p.m. (PT)
UCLA โ TBA
TEXAS - Morgan Cooper, RHP, Jr. (1-0, 1.89 ERA)
Sunday, March 12 - 11:00 a.m. (PT)
UCLA โ Jon Olsen, RHP, So. (0-0, 4.76 ERA)
TEXAS - TBA
Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats
Week in Review
UCLA went 1-2 this past weekend during the annual Dodger Stadium College Baseball Classic but came back to win its midweek game against CSUN.
- On Friday, UCLA earned a walk-off win against Michigan, 1-0, in the team's first shutout of the season. Griffin Canning tied a career-high with 12 strikeouts for the second-straight start in 8.0 innings of work.
- On Saturday, the Bruins dropped a 12-inning game to San Diego, 3-1. Sean Bouchard hit a solo home run for his fourth of the season.
- On Sunday, UCLA fell to USC, 4-3 in 10 innings, at Dodger Stadium. Chase Strumpf hit a solo home run and starting pitcher Jon Olsen set career-highs with nine strikeouts and 5.2 innings pitched.
- On Tuesday, UCLA tallied a season-best 13 hits and defeated CSUN 7-2 as Ryan Kreidler went 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
Scouting Texas
Texas enters the weekend with a 9-6 record after dropping three of four last weekend to Stanford but defeating Richmond on Tuesday, 9-0 and Texas A&M Corpus Christi, 15-0. The Longhorns are led offensively by Bret Boswell, hitting .333 in 12 games with two home runs and seven RBIs, and Kacy Clemens with a team-best three home runs and nine RBIs. On the mound, Morgan Cooper is 1-0 in three starts with a 1.89 ERA with 19 strikeouts, while Nolan Kingham is 2-1 with a 0.00ย ERA in 15.1 innings.
The Bruins vs. the Longhorns
UCLA has faced Texas eight previous times, posting a record of 4-4 against the Longhorns. The Bruins won two out of three over the Longhorns last year at Jackie Robinson Stadium. UCLA last played Texas in Austin during the 1996 Central Regional when the Bruins won 5-2. In the last five games, UCLA is 4-1 against Texas as the Bruins are 2-1 against UT under head coach John Savage.
NCAA Rankings
UCLA as a team is ranked in the top-50 in the country in a number of categories:
- 1st in hits allowed per nine innings - 5.33
- 6th in WHIP - 1.01
- 7th in ERA - 2.01
- 20th in strikeouts per nine innings - 10.2
- 32nd in fielding percentage - 0.981
- 46th in shutouts - 1
Canning Effect
Griffin Canning made the jump last season to UCLA's Friday starter and has excelled on the bump for the Bruins. Earlier this season, he was selected to the Golden Spikes Preseason Watch List and named a Preseason All-America third team selection by Baseball America. He lasted at least 5.0 innings in all 18 starts, including throwing 7.0 or more innings in 10 of the last 18 starts. In addition, Canning ranks top-50 in the country in several individual categories:
- T1st in ERA (0.00)
- 5th in strikeouts (32)
- 15th in hits allowed per nine inning (3.00)
- 38th in strikeouts per nine inning (13.71)
- 45th in WHIP (0.71)
Bouchard's Big Bat
Sean Bouchard has been on fire at the plate to begin the season. He is riding a 13-game reached base streak dating back to last season. Bouchard also ranks in the top-100 in several NCAA categories:
- 30th in home runs and T1st in Pac-12 - 4
- 33rd in sacrifice flies - 2
- 42nd in home runs per game - 0.36
- 78th in slugging percentage - 0.725
Freshman Stepping Up
A number of UCLA freshman have made a big impact through the first 11 games this season:
- Nick Scheidler is second on the team with six appearances on the mound and has not allowed a run in 6.1 innings of work. He earned his first career win against Gonzaga on Feb. 26.
- Ryan Kreidler is second on the team in batting average and RBIs and drove in the game-winning run against San Jose State in the season opener.
- Chase Strumpf is second on the team in home runs including hitting a solo home run against the Trojans at Dodger Stadium on March 5.
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 as UCLA received 54 points overall. Prior to the season, D1Baseball.com ranked the top position players in the country and 11 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 Strumpf (2B) No. 39, Brian Gadsby (RP) - No. 39, Michael Toglia (OF) - No. 50, Jake Bird (SP) - No. 85, Daniel Amaral (OF) - No. 149, Jon Olsen (SP) - No. 165 and Justin Hooper (SP) - No. 200.
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 at 3 p.m. (PT).
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
