University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
Cal State Fullerton
Bruins Head to No. 14 Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday
May 08, 2017 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES โ The UCLA baseball team continues its seven-game road swing on Tuesday when it travels to No. 14 Cal State Fullerton for a midweek game starting at 6 p.m. (PT) from Goodwin Field.
Probable Starters
Tuesday, May 9 - 6:00 p.m. PT
UCLA โ Justin Hooper, LHP, So. (1-0, 4.17 ERA)
CSF โ TBA
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UCLA Quick Hits
UCLA is 24-20 overall on the season including 13-8 in Pac-12 play.
- Griffin Canning has 108 total punch outs in 13 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 fifth in the Pac-12 in slugging percentage at .558 and is fourth in home runs with eight. He also ranks inside the top-11 in the conference in doubles, RBIs and total bases.
- Scott Burke is third in the NCAA in pitching appearances with 30. He is also 25th on the NCAA's career active list for relief appearances with 82.
- Kyle Cuellar is top-10 during Pac-12 play in batting average, on-base percentage and doubles.
- Daniel Amaral leads the Pac-12 with 13 stolen bases this season.
- The Bruins pitching staff ranks 20th in the NCAA in ERA at 3.41, 22nd in hits allowed per nine innings at 7.85, 23rd in shutouts with five, 32nd in WHIP at 1.28, 52nd in strikeouts per nine innings at 8.6 and 71st in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 2.35.
Weekend in Review
UCLA swept a road Pac-12 series at USC over the weekend to improve to 13-8 in conference play.
- On Thursday, Griffin Canning tossed his second complete game shutout of the season with 10 strikeouts, while Chase Strumpf drove in the game's only runs with a two-run home run.
- The Bruins won game two, 4-2, as Ryan Kreidler drove in three runs, including the game-winning RBIs in the ninth inning, and Jake Bird tossed 6.1 shutout innings in relief.
- UCLA swept the Trojans with a 13-0 victory on Saturday as Michael Toglia recorded six RBIs and Jon Olsen struck out seven in 5.0 innings of work.
Scouting Cal State Fullerton
The 14th-ranked Titans come into Tuesday's game with a record of 28-16 after winning two out of three games over the weekend at Hawai'i. Offensively, Scott Hurst is hitting .320 with 25 RBIs with 12 doubles, while Taylor Bryant has a team-high 29 RBIs and 13 doubles.
The Bruins vs. the Titans
UCLA has faced Cal State Fullerton 104 previous times, posting a record of 35-67-2 against the Titans. Earlier this season, The Bruins defeated CSF, 9-7, on March 28 at Jackie Robinson Stadium as the Bruins fell behind 5-1 before scoring eight runs in the fourth inning. Sean Bouchard went 3-for-4 while Brett Stephens drove in three runs. UCLA 5-5 in its last 10 games against Cal State Fullerton and on the road, the Bruins are 3-2 in its last five games at CSF. Under John Savage, UCLA is 12-26 against the Titans.
NCAA Rankings
UCLA as a team is ranked in the top-100 in the country in a number of categories:
- 12th in fielding percentage - 0.980
- 20th in ERA - 3.41
- 22nd in hits allowed per nine innings - 7.85
- 23rd in shutouts - 5
- 32nd in WHIP - 1.28
- 52nd in strikeouts per nine innings - 8.6
- 71st in strikeout-to-walk ratio - 2.35
- 98th in walks allowed per nine innings - 3.65
Pac-12 Leaders
With three weeks left in Pac-12 play, several UCLA players are ranked inside the top-10 a number of categories:
- Michael Toglia: 1st in slugging percentage (.695), 2nd in on-base percentage (.486), T7th in doubles (7), T8th in home runs (3), 9th in batting average (.356), 10th in RBIs (18).
- Kyle Cuellar: 3rd in on-base percentage (.472), 6th in batting average (.373), T10th in double (6).
- Griffin Canning: 3rd in strikeouts (60), T3rd in wins (4), 4th in innings pitched (49.2).
- Jon Olsen: 2nd in opposing batting average (.172), T2nd in hits allowed (21), 4th in runs allowed (9), 5th in ERA (2.27), T7th in strikeouts (30).
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)
- 5. 307 Pete Janicki (1990-92)
- 6. 275 James Kaprielian (2013-15)
- 7. 274 Gary Robson (1970-72)
- 8. 272 Adam Plutko (2011-13)
- 9. 269 - Griffin Canning (2015-Pres.)
Tough Road
The Bruins have played one of the toughest schedules in the country as UCLA ranks No. 28 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. 16 by Warren Nolan.
Freshman Stepping Up
A number of UCLA freshman have made a big impact this season:
- Kyle Cuellar is the team leader in batting average at .327 and on-base percentage at .423. He is also third on the team in slugging percentage at .439. Cuellar also leads the team in batting average.
- Michael Toglia is second on the team in slugging percentage, on-base percentage and home runs. He is hitting .356 in Pac-12 play and leads the team with three home runs and 18 RBIs. Toglia is batting .438 with two home runs and nine RBIs over the last five games.
- Ryan Kreidler has driven in 22 runs, scored 20 times and has started at shortstop in 17 of the last 19 games. He drove in a career-best three runs, including the game-winner in the ninth inning, at USC on May 5. During Pac-12 play he is hitting .317 with two home runs and 12 RBIs.
- Chase Strumpf is third on the team in home runs with five and has 20 RBIs, including 16 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.
- Jack Stronach is hitting .317 during Pac-12 play with five doubles and has recorded nine RBIs. He totaled 13 RBIs and eight runs in 70 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 150 of the 161 total games played by the Bruins in the past three years.
- He has played in a total of 189 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, including the next six conference games.
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
