Trio of Bruins Earn All-Pac-12 Honors
June 01, 2017 | Baseball
SAN FRANCISCO โ UCLA baseball's Griffin Canning, Sean Bouchard and Jon Olsen were each selected to the All-Pac-12 Team, as voted on by the league's 11 head coaches, announced the Pac-12 office on Thursday. In addition, Canning was named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive team.
Five more Bruins were named All-Pac-12 honorable mention as Daniel Amaral, Kyle Cuellar, Ryan Kreidler, Brett Stephens and Michael Toglia each earned their first postseason league accolade.
Canning, a junior right-handed pitcher, was named an All-American second team selection by Collegiate Baseball earlier today and earned his second straight All-Pac-12 honor after being named an honorable mention last season. He compiled a 7-3 record overall this season with a 2.34 ERA. Canning finished with 134 strikeouts in 111.1 innings of work with just 30 walks. He recorded four complete games, including three complete game shutouts on the road during Pac-12 play. Canning ended the season ranked in the top-10 nationally in starts, strikeouts and complete games, while also top-10 in the conference in ERA and innings pitched. Canning tied his career-high three times this season with 12 strikeouts. During conference play, the Coto de Caza, Calif. native recorded a 6-3 record with a 3.01 ERA in 74.2 innings with 86 strikeouts.
Bouchard, a junior first baseman, earned his first All-Pac-12 selection after batting .305 with a team-best 43 RBIs and 38 runs scored. He also led the team with 27 extra-base hits and nine home runs. Bouchard ranks top-10 in the conference in slugging percentage, home runs, RBIs, doubles and total bases. During conference play he hit .302 with 26 runs scored and 27 RBIs. He totaled 13 extra base hitsย with three home runs in Pac-12 play for a .466 slugging percentage to go along with a .388 on-base percentage. The San Diego native became the first Bruin since 2015 to hit two home runs in a game against Gonzaga on Feb. 25 and twice collected five RBIs in a game against California and at Washington State. Earlier this week he was selected as Pac-12 All-Academic honorable mention.
Olsen, a sophomore right-handed pitcher, received his first All-Pac-12 nod after finishing the regular season with a 7-1 record and a 2.91 ERA in 14 starts. He ended the season with a team-best .205 opposing batting average and was second on the team in innings pitched and strikeouts. Olsen ranked top-10 in the Pac-12 in wins, ERA, strikeouts, opposing batting average, hits allowed and runs allowed. The native of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., was dominant during conference play finished with a perfect 6-0 mark with a 2.08 ERA in nine starts. He struck out 53 batters compared to just 18 walks in 56.1 innings of work and held opponents to a .174 batting average. He set a career-high with nine strikeouts twice this season against USC and at Washington State. In his last start of the season at Oregon, Olsenย went 8.0 innings allowing just one run with eight punch outs.
Amaral, a sophomore outfielder, led the Pac-12 in stolen bases with 16 and hit .286 with 17 walks and a team-high 11 hit by pitches. In Pac-12 play he batted .345 with a team-best 38 hits including three doubles. Amaral scored 18 runs and drove in 13 runs during conference play and swiped eight bases. He set a career-high with four base hits against Utah and drove in a career-best three runs against San Jose State including hitting his first home run.
Cuellar, a freshman designated hitter, led UCLA batting .327 with 13 runs and 20 RBIs. He was also the team leader in slugging percentage at .439 and on-base percentage at .423. Cuellar recorded 10 extra-base hits including hitting his first career home run at Texas on March 10. During conference play, he batted a team-best .373 with 11 RBIs and six runs scored. Cuellar also led the team during Pac-12 play in on-base percentage at .472 while slugging .475. Cuellar set a career-high with four hits against Washington and also drove in the game-tying run in the ninth inning with two outs in the series-clinching win at No. 18 Stanford.
Kreidler, a freshman infielder, started 52 games for the Bruins this season including 28 at shortstop. He hit .244 with 27 runs and 24 RBIs. Kreidler slugged .341 with a .333 on-base percentage during the regular season. During Pac-12 play, he batted .277 with 13 RBIs and 17 runs scored. Kreidler collected seven extra-base hits during conference play including two home runs with one coming against No. 1 Oregon State at home.
Stephens, a senior outfielder, was one of only two UCLA players to play in all 55 games this regular season and became just the 16th UCLA player since 1975 to play in 200 career games. He hit .279 with a team-high 38 runs and 21 RBIs during the regular season and was second on the team with six stolen bases. Stephens totaled 15 extra-base hits this season including hitting two home runs against Washington at home on April 7. During Pac-12 play he batted .300 with 26 runs scored and nine RBIs. He ended the conference season with a .386 on-base percentage and slugged .409.
Toglia, a freshman outfielder, finished second on the team with eight home runs and 33 RBIs, while hitting .263 with a .485 slugging percentage. He finished top-10 in the Pac-12 in home runs and walks. He also scored 31 runs and recorded 19 extra-base hits. During conference play, Toglia hit .312 with 25 RBIs and 20 runs scored. He slugged .434 with five home runs and recorded a .434 on-base percentage. Toglia was top-10 in Pac-12 play in slugging, on-base percentage, RBIs, home runs and walks.
UCLA begins postseason play on Friday as the No. 3 seed in the Long Beach Regional and will face second-seed Texas starting at 4 p.m. (PT) from Blair Field. The game will be televised live on ESPN2. Tickets are available at LongBeachState.com/baseballregionals.
