UCLA
UC Irvine
Bruins Travel to UC Irvine for Final Midweek Game
May 22, 2017 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA baseball team will be on the road for its final midweek game of the season when it faces UC Irvine on Tuesday with first pitch scheduled for 6:30 p.m. (PT) from Cicerone Field at Anteater Ballpark.
Probable Starters
Tuesday, May 23 - 6:30 p.m. PT
UCLA โ Moises Ceja, RHP, Sr. (2-4, 3.45 ERA)
UCI โ Calvin Faucher, RHP, Sr. (1-5, 4.01 ERA)
Live Audio | Live Stats | Follow @UCLABaseball
UCLA Quick Hits
UCLA is 28-23 overall on the season including 17-10 in Pac-12 play, good for third place in the conference.
- Griffin Canning has 124 total punch outs in 15 starts, good for fifth in NCAA and second in the conference. He has tied a career-high with 12 strikeouts three times this season. Canning ranks inside the top-10 in the conference in ERA, opposing batting average and innings pitched.
- Sean Bouchard is third in the Pac-12 in slugging percentage at .560 and is fourth in home runs with nine. He also ranks inside the top-10 in the conference in doubles, RBIs and total bases.
- Scott Burke is fifth in the NCAA in pitching appearances with 33. He is also 24th on the NCAA's career active list for relief appearances with 85.
- Michael Toglia is top-10 in the conference in slugging percentage, home runs and walks.
- Daniel Amaral is tied for first in the Pac-12 with 15 stolen bases this season.
- The Bruins pitching staff ranks 18th in the NCAA in ERA at 3.45, 25th in hits allowed per nine innings at 7.94, 27th in WHIP at 1.28, 32nd in shutouts with five, 55th in strikeouts per nine innings at 8.5 and 61st in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 2.38.
Week in Review
UCLA swept its third Pac-12 series this season in the final home games of 2017 over Utah.
- On Friday, Jack Stronach went 2-for-3 with a solo home run while Griffin Canning tossed a complete game with 10 strikeouts to win the series opener 7-3.
- The Bruins won the series with a 5-3 win on Saturday as Chase Strumpf hit the first grand slam by a UCLA player since 2015.
- UCLA earned the series sweep with a 8-3 win after Michael Toglia, Chase Strumpf and Daniel Rosica each hit home runs and Jon Olsen improved to 5-0 in conference play.
Scouting UC Irvine
The Anteaters enter the weekend with a 20-21 record, including 7-14 during Big West play. Offensively, UCI is led by Keston Hiura who is third in the NCAA batting .411 with 43 runs, 35 RBIs, 20 doubles and eight home runs. On the mound, projected starter Calvin Faucher is 1-5 with a 4.01 ERA in 33.2 innings pitched.
The Bruins vs. the Anteaters
UCLA has faced UC Irvine 86 previous times, posting a record of 54-31-1 against the Anteaters. On March 14, UCLA fell to UC Irvine, 5-3, at home as Kyle Cuellar collected three hits and three RBIs in the loss. In the last 10 games, UCLA is 7-3 against UC Irvine and on the road, the Bruins are 4-1 in its last five games against the Anteaters. Under John Savage, UCLA is 20-10 against UCI.
UCLA in the Polls
The Bruins have cracked the top-30 of a national poll for the second time in three weeks as Collegiate Baseball has UCLA ranked No. 30 in the country.
NCAA Rankings
UCLA as a team is ranked in the top-100 in the country in a number of categories:
- 11th in fielding percentage - 0.981
- 18th in ERA - 3.45
- 25th in hits allowed per nine innings - 7.94
- 27th in WHIP - 1.28
- 32nd in shutouts - 5
- 55th in strikeouts per nine innings - 8.5
- 61st in strikeout-to-walk ratio - 2.38
- 83rd in walks allowed per nine innings - 3.57
Pac-12 Leaders
With two weeks left in Pac-12 play, several UCLA players are ranked inside the top-10 a number of categories:
- Michael Toglia: 2nd in slugging percentage (.642), T3rd in walks (17), 7th in on-base percentage (.444), T5th in home runs (5), T9th in RBIs (22).
- Sean Bouchard: T4th in doubles (10), T6th in RBIs (24), T8th in runs scored (23), 10th in slugging percentage (.495).
- Chase Strumpf: T5th in home runs (5), 8th in RBIs (23), 9th in slugging percentage (.500).
- Griffin Canning: 3rd in strikeouts (76), 3rd in innings pitched (65.2), T4th in wins (5).
- Jon Olsen: 2nd in opposing batting average (.179), 4th in ERA (2.23), 4th in hits allowed (30), T4th in runs allowed (12), T4th in wins (5), 7th in strikeouts (45).
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.
- 1. 460 - Trevor Bauer (2009-11)
- 2. 376 - Gerrit Cole (2009-11)
- 3. 328 - Alex Sanchez (1985-87)
- 4. 319 - Jim Parque (1995-97)
- 5. 307 - Pete Janicki (1990-92)
- 6. 285 - Griffin Canning (2015-Pres.)
Tough Road
The Bruins have played one of the toughest schedules in the country as UCLA ranks No. 18 on the NCAA's Toughest Schedule Report. UCLA's opponents have accumulated a 0.572 winning percentage coming in to this week. The Bruins also rank No. 2 in strength of schedule by Boyd's World and No. 21 by Warren Nolan.
Freshman Stepping Up
A number of UCLA freshman have made a big impact this season:
- Michael Toglia is top-10 in the Pac-12 in slugging percentage, home runs and walks. He is hitting .321 in Pac-12 play and leads the team with five home runs. Toglia has hit the third most home runs by a UCLA freshman since 2005.
- Chase Strumpf is third on the team in home runs with seven and has 28 RBIs, including 23 during Pac-12 play. He is the first UCLA player since 2000 to drive in seven runs in a single game and hit the first grand slam since 2015.
- Ryan Kreidler has driven in 22 runs, scored 24 times and has started at shortstop in 24 of the last 26 games. During Pac-12 play he is hitting .277 with two home runs and 12 RBIs.
- Jack Stronach is hitting .327 during Pac-12 play with six doubles, one home run and has recorded 12 RBIs. He totaled 16 RBIs and nine runs in 80 at-bats this season.
UCLA Ironman
Over the past three seasons, senior Brett Stephens has been an ironman for the UCLA Bruins.
- Stephens has appeared in 157 of the 168 total games played by the Bruins in the past three years.
- He has played in a total of 196 games in his career.
- Stephens is looking to become the 16th player since 1975 to play in 200 career games.
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
