University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
Bruins Welcome No. 1 Oregon State This Weekend
April 20, 2017 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA baseball team will begin the second half of the Pac-12 season this weekend when it hosts No. 1 Oregon State at Jackie Robinson Stadium starting on Friday at 6 p.m. (PT). Saturday's game will be televised on ESPNU with Roxy Bernstein and Wes Clements on the call with first pitched scheduled for 6:02 p.m. (PT)
Probable Starters
Friday, April 21 - 6:00 p.m. PT
UCLA โ Griffin Canning, RHP, Jr. (3-2, 2.77 ERA)
OSU โ Luke Heimlich, LHP, Jr. (5-1, 0.83 ERA)
Saturday, April 22 - 6:00 p.m. PT
UCLA โ Moises Ceja, RHP, Sr. (1-3, 2.79 ERA)
OSU โ Bryce Fehmel, RHP, So. (4-1, 3.00 ERA)
Sunday, April 23 1:00 p.m. PT
UCLA โ Jon Olsen, RHP, So. (2-1, 4.02 ERA)
OSU โ Jake Thompson, RHP, Jr. (8-0, 1.03 ERA)
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UCLA Quick Hits
UCLA is 17-16 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 40 during Pac-12 play and ranks inside the top-10 in the conference in ERA, strikeouts, opposing batting average and innings pitched.
- Kyle Cuellar is 42nd in the NCAA in batting average at .390 and 29th in on-base percentage at .485. He has reached base safely in 22 consecutive games played.
- Sean Bouchard third in the Pac-12 in slugging percentage at .597 and tied for 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 23 and ninth during Pac-12 play with a 2.87 ERA.
- Daniel Amaral leads the Pac-12 with 11 stolen bases this season.
- UCLA is 5-3 this season against ranked opponents. The Bruins will play the No. 1 team in the nation for the first time since 2015.
- The Bruins pitching staff ranks 26th in the NCAA in hits allowed per nine innings at 7.83, 45th in WHIP at 1.29, 54th in ERA at 3.76 and 77th in strikeouts per nine innings at 8.3.
Promotions
Friday's night game will Jackie Robinson Day at the stadium as the first 1,000 fans will recieve a Jackie Robinson t-shirt.
Week in Review
UCLA went 2-1 this past weekend at No. 18 Stanford and then defeated No. 12 Long Beach State in 11 innings.
- 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-double. 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.
- On Tuesday, Michael Toglia went 3-for-4 with a home run and Chase Strumpf drove in the game-winning run as UCLA defeated 12th-ranked Long Beach State, 2-1, at home in 11 innings.
Scouting Oregon State
Oregon State comes into the game as the top-ranked team in the nation behind a 30-1 record, including 14-1 during Pac-12 play. The Beavers are led by their pitching staff which is tops in the nation in ERA, WHIP, hits allowed per nine innings and shutouts. Offensively, OSU is led by Nick Madrigal who is hitting .392 with 20 RBIs and 12 doubles.
The Bruins vs. the Beavers
UCLA has faced Oregon State 70 previous times, posting a record of 36-34 against the Beavers. The Bruins lost all three games to end the season last year in Corvallis, Ore. UCLA is 3-9 in its last 12 games against Oregon State and at home, the Bruins are 4-5 in the last nine games vs. the Beavers. Under John Savage, UCLA is 12-23 against Oregon State.
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:
- 26th in hits allowed per nine innings - 7.83
- 29th in fielding percentage - 0.978
- 45th in WHIP - 1.29
- 47th in shutouts - 3
- 54th in ERA - 3.76
- 77th in strikeouts per nine innings - 8.3
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).
- 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.ย
- 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.)
Canning Effect
Griffin Canning has excelled on the bump for the Bruins this season and is one of the top starters in the country. Earlier this season, he was selected to the Golden Spikes Midseason and Preseason Watch Lists and named a Preseason All-America third team selection by Baseball America. He lasted at least 5.0 innings in 23 of last 24 eligible starts, including throwing 7.0 or more innings in 13 of the 24 starts. He currently ranks 15th on the NCAA's active career list for complete games with 5, 16th in strikeouts with 239 and 47th in fewest walks per nine innings with 1.80. In addition, Canning ranks top-100 in the country in several individual categories:
- 4th in games starts (10))
- 10th in strikeouts (78)
- 41st in strikeouts per nine innings (11.38)
Freshman Stepping Up
A number of UCLA freshman have made a big impact through the first third of this season:
- Kyle Cuellar is 42nd in the NCAA in batting average at .390 and 29th in on-base percentage in .485. He is also second on the team in slugging percentage at .532 and in RBIs with 19. He drove in the game-tying run in the ninth inning at No. 18 Stanford in series finale.
- Ryan Kreidler is third on the team in batting average at .275 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 second on the team in on-base percentage at .414 and third in slugging percentage at .420. He is hitting .471 with two home runs with six RBIs over the last five games.
- Jack Stronach is second on the team hitting .360 during Pac-12 play with three doubles and has recorded six RBIs. Over the last five games he is hitting .353 and slugging .471.
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
