UCLA
Long Beach State
Bruins Clash with No. 12 Long Beach State
April 17, 2017 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA baseball team will begin a four-game homestand this week when it hosts No. 12 Long Beach State at Jackie Robinson Stadium on Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 6 p.m. (PT).
Probable Starters
Tuesday, April 18 - 6:00 p.m. PT
UCLA โ Justin Hooper, LHP, So. (0-0, 4.97 ERA)
LBSU โ A.J. Jones, RHP, Jr. (1-1, 2.37 ERA)
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UCLA Quick Hits
UCLA is 16-16 overall on the season including 9-6 in Pac-12 play.
- Griffin Canning has tied a career-high with 12 strikeouts three times this season. He has 78 total punch outs in 10 starts, good for 10th in NCAA. He leads the Pac-12 in strikeouts looking at 34 and ranks inside the top-10 in the conference in ERA, strikeouts, opposing batting average and innings pitched.
- Kyle Cuellar is 11th in the NCAA in batting average at .411 and 17th in on-base percentage at .500. He has reached base safely in 21 consecutive games played.
- Sean Bouchard third in the Pac-12 in slugging percentage at .592 and second in home runs with six. He also ranks inside the top-10 in the conference in doubles, RBIs and total bases.
- Scott Burke is fourth in the NCAA in pitching appearances with 22 and ninth during Pac-12 play with a 1.88 ERA.
- Daniel Amaral leads the Pac-12 with 11 stolen bases this season.
- The Bruins pitching staff ranks 33rd in the NCAA in hits allowed per nine innings at 7.97, 53rd in WHIP at 1.31, 67th in ERA at 3.91 and 69th in strikeouts per nine innings at 8.4.
Week in Review
UCLA went 2-1 this past weekend at No. 18 Stanford and are now 9-6 and tied for second in Pac-12 play.
- On Thursday, Griffin Canning tossed a complete game shutout and tied a career-high with 12 strikeouts in a 2-0 win the series opener.
- On Friday, the Bruins fell to the Cardinal, 5-3 as Daniel Amaral collected two hits, one RBI and scored a run, while Sean Bouchard hit a RBI-doule. Moises Ceja threw 5.0 innings in the start.
- UCLA claimed the series on Saturday with a 7-6 extra inning win at Stanford. Michael Toglia recorded a career high four RBIs and Kyle Cuellar drove in the game-tying run with two outs in the ninth inning.
Scouting Long Beach State
The 12th-ranked Dirtbags comes into Tuesday with a 22-12 record and have won eight out of their last nine games. Long Beach State is led offensively by Lucas Tancas hitting a team-best .349 with five home runs, while Ramsey Romano is hitting .341 with 24 RBIs. On the mound, AJ Jones is projected to start and has a 1-1 record with a 2.37 ERA in 19.0 innings.
The Bruins vs. the Dirtbags
UCLA has faced Long Beach State 107 previous times, posting a record of 63-44 against the Dirtbags. The Bruins split two games last season with LBSU, winning on the road 11-10 but falling at home, 10-1. UCLA is 5-5 in its last 10 games against Long Beach State. At home, the Bruins are 3-2 in the last five games against the Dirtbags. Under John Savage, UCLA is 14-13 against Long Beach State.
Canning Named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week
Griffin Canning was named the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week on Monday for his first weekly award of the season and the second of his career.
- Tossed a complete game shutout against the 18th-ranked Cardinal on Thursday.
- Tied a career high with 12 strikeouts.
- Scattered four hits and did not allow a walk.
NCAA Rankings
UCLA as a team is ranked in the top-100 in the country in a number of categories:
- 25th in fielding percentage - 0.978
- 33rd in hits allowed per nine innings - 7.97
- 44th in shutouts - 3
- 53rd in WHIP - 1.31
- 67th in ERA - 3.91
- 69th in strikeouts per nine innings - 8.5
- 93rd in Walks - 132
- 99th in strikeout-to-walk ratio - 2.20
Pac-12 Leaders
15 games into Pac-12 play, several UCLA players are ranked inside the top-10 a number of categories:
- Kyle Cuellar: 2nd in batting average (.429), 3rd in on-base percentage (.517), T5th in doubles (6), T5th in walks (9), T8th in hits (21), T10th in RBIs (11).
- Michael Toglia: T2nd in walks (10), 5th in on-base percentage (.500), T8th in RBIs (12), T8th in home runs (2), 9th in slugging percentage (.615).
- Brett Stephens: T6th in runs scored (13), T8th in home runs (2).
- Daniel Amaral: T1st in steals (4), T5th in walks (6), T8th in hits (21).
- Griffin Canning: 1st in strikeouts (40), 4th in innings pitched (33.2).
- Scott Burke: 1st in appearances (10), 3rd in hits allowed (14), 9th in ERA (2.87), 9th in opponent average (.220).
- Jon Olsen: 4th in opponent average (.186), T5th in hits allowed (16), 9th in strikeouts (19).
200 K's
Griffin Canning is the 22nd pitcher in UCLA program history, and the eighth pitcher since John Savage took over the program in 2005, to surpass the 200 strikeout mark. Canning also currently ranks 16th in the NCAA on the active career strikeout list.
- 1. 460 - Trevor Bauer (2009-11)
- 2. 376 - Gerrit Cole (2009-11)
- 13. 245 - Casey Janssen (2001-04)
- 14. 241 - David Berg (2012-15)
- 15. 239 - Griffin Canning (2015-Pres.)
Tough Road
The Bruins have played one of the toughest schedules in the country as UCLA ranks No. 14 on the NCAA's Toughest Schedule Report. UCLA's opponents have accumulated a 0.591 winning percentage coming in to this week.
Freshman Stepping Up
A number of UCLA freshman have made a big impact after the first half of the season:
- Kyle Cuellar is 11th in the NCAA in batting average at .411 and 17th in on-base percentage in .500. He is also second on the team in slugging percentage at .562 and in RBIs with 19. Over the last five games, he is hitting .444 with three doubles and three RBIs.
- Ryan Kreidler is third on the team in batting average at .273 and RBIs with 17. He hit his first career home run in win over Arizona. During Pac-12 play he is hitting .325 with seven RBIs.
- Chase Strumpf is second on the team in home runs with four and has 16 RBIs, including 13 in Pac-12 play. He is the first UCLA player since 2000 to drive in seven runs in a single game on April 2 at Arizona State.
- Michael Toglia is third on the team in on-base percentage at .402 and has a team-high in 21 walks. He is hitting .359 with two home runs in Pac-12 play.
- Jack Stronach is second on the team hitting .360 during Pac-12 play with three doubles and has recorded six RBIs.
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.
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.
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
