University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Long Beach State
Bruins Travel to No. 9 Long Beach State on Tuesday
April 24, 2017 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA baseball team will head to No. 9 Long Beach State on Tuesday for a midweek matchup starting at 6 p.m. (PT) from Blair Field. The Bruins are facing its fifth-straight top-25 opponent in a row and last week defeated the Dirtbags in extra innings, 2-1, at home.
Probable Starters
Tuesday, April 25 - 6:00 p.m. PT
UCLA โ Justin Hooper, LHP, So. (0-0, 4.15 ERA)
LBSU โ AJ Jones, RHP , Jr. (1-1, 2.16 ERA)
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UCLA Quick Hits
UCLA is 18-18 overall on the season including 10-8 in Pac-12 play.
- Griffin Canning has tied a career-high with 12 strikeouts three times this season. He has 88 total punch outs in 11 starts, good for seventh in NCAA and tops in the conference. He also the Pac-12 with 50 strikeouts during Pac-12 play and ranks inside the top-10 in the conference in ERA, opposing batting average and innings pitched.
- Kyle Cuellar is 87th in the NCAA in on-base percentage at .459 and top-10 during Pac-12 play in batting average, on-base percentage and doubles. He had his reached base safely streak end on Sunday at 24 games.
- Sean Bouchard fourth in the Pac-12 in slugging percentage at .582 and tied for third in home runs with six. He also ranks inside the top-10 in the conference in doubles, RBIs and total bases.
- Scott Burke is third in the NCAA in pitching appearances with 25 and top-10 during Pac-12 play in earned run and walks allowed.
- Daniel Amaral leads the Pac-12 with 12 stolen bases this season.
- UCLA is 6-5 this season against ranked opponents, including 2-2 in its last four games played.
- The Bruins pitching staff ranks 16th in the NCAA in hits allowed per nine innings at 7.65, 38th in ERA at 3.61, 40th in WHIP at 1.28 and 70th in strikeouts per nine innings at 8.4.
Weekend in Review
UCLA dropped two out of three games at home over the weekend to the No. 1 Oregon State Beavers.
- On Friday, Griffin Canning tossed 7.0 innings and struck out 10 batters, while Nick Kern sent the game to extra innings with a two-out two-run home run in the ninth inning in a 4-2 loss in 10 innings.
- The Bruins picked up their first win against the Beavers since 2015 after scoring seven runs in the first three innings. Sean Bouchard drove in three runs and Moises Ceja threw 6.0 shutout innings.
- UCLA dropped the rubber match on Sunday, 2-1, as Jon Olsen threw 6.1 scoreless innings and Jack Stronach drove in UCLA's only run in a double in the seventh inning.
Scouting Long Beach State
Long Beach State moved into the top-10 of the Baseball America top-25 poll this week after earning a three-game weekend sweep of UC Irvine on the road and are now 25-13 overall. Ramsey Romano leads the offense hitting .349 with a team-best 26 RBIs, while Lucas Tancas has a team-high six home runs hit season. AJ Jones is Tuesday's projected starter for LBSU and has a record of 1-1 with a 2.16 ERA.
The Bruins vs. the Dirtbags
UCLA has faced Long Beach State 108 previous times, posting a record of 64-44 against the Dirtbags. The Bruins won the previous matchup this season, 2-1, in 11 innings at Jackie Robinson Stadium. UCLA is 5-5 in its last 10 games against Long Beach State. On the road, the Bruins are 3-2 in the last five games vs. the Dirtbags. Under John Savage, UCLA is 15-13 against Long Beach State. Last week, UCLA defeated the Dirtbags, 2-1, in 11 innings as Michael Toglia collected three hits and Chase Strumpf drove in the game-winning run with a sacrifice fly. Justin Hooper started for the Bruins and threw 5.0 innings and allowed just one unearned run.
NCAA Rankings
UCLA as a team is ranked in the top-100 in the country in a number of categories:
- 16th in hits allowed per nine innings - 7.65
- 30th in fielding percentage - 0.978
- 38th in ERA - 3.61
- 40th in WHIP - 1.28
- 53rd in shutouts - 3
- 70th in strikeouts per nine innings - 8.4
Pac-12 Leaders
Over halfway through Pac-12 play, several UCLA players are ranked inside the top-10 a number of categories:
- Kyle Cuellar: 3rd in on-base percentage (.472), T6th in walks (11), T7th in double (6), T8th in batting average (.373).
- Michael Toglia: T3rd in triple (2), 6th in slugging percentage (.592), T6th in walks (11), 7th in on-base percentage (.459).
- Brett Stephens: T6th in runs scored (13), T8th in home runs (2).
- Sean Bouchard: T4th in doubles (7), T8th in RBIs (14), T10 in runs (14).
- Griffin Canning: 1st in strikeouts (50), 3rd in innings pitched (40.2), T4th in wins (3).
- Jon Olsen: 3rd in opposing batting average (.173), 7th in ERA (2.64), T10th in strikeouts (23).
- Moises Ceja: 7th in opposing batting average (.231), T8th in strikeouts (24), 9th in ERA (3.06).
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 15th in the NCAA on the active career strikeout list.
- 1. 460 - Trevor Bauer (2009-11)
- 2. 376 - Gerrit Cole (2009-11)
- 11. 258 Tim Leary (1977-79)
- T12. 249 - Hector Ambriz (2003-06)
- T12. 249 - Griffin Canning (2015-Pres.)
Tough Road
The Bruins have played one of the toughest schedules in the country as UCLA ranks No. 16 on the NCAA's Toughest Schedule Report. UCLA's opponents have accumulated a 0.584 winning percentage coming in to this week. The Bruins also rank No. 1 in strength of schedule by Boyd's World and No. 3 by Warren Nolan.
Freshman Stepping Up
A number of UCLA freshman have made a big impact after the first half of the season:
- Kyle Cuellar is the team leader in batting average at .356 and on-base percentage at .459. He is also second on the team in slugging percentage at .483 and in RBIs with 19. He had his team-best 24-game reached base streak ended on Sunday.
- Ryan Kreidler is third on the team in batting average at .265 and RBIs with 18. He hit his second career home run in win over No. 1 Oregon State. During Pac-12 play he is hitting .294 with two home runs and eight RBIs.
- Chase Strumpf is second on the team in home runs with four and has 18 RBIs, including 14 during 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 slugging percentage at .429. He is hitting .327 in Pac-12 play and is third on the team with 12 RBIs. Toglia is batting .444 with two home runs with five RBIs over the last five games.
- Jack Stronach is second on the team hitting .353 during Pac-12 play with five doubles and has recorded nine RBIs. He has recorded hits in seven of his last eight games played.
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
