LOS ANGELES – Michael Toglia went 3-for-4 with three doubles and three RBIs, while alum Trevor Bauer (2009-11) tossed 4.0 innings as the UCLA baseball team earned a 5-3 victory over the UCLA Alumni on Saturday at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Bauer, currently playing for the Cleveland Indians, started on the mound for the Bruins and allowed three hits and struck out two batters. Pat Valaika (2011-13), currently with the Colorado Rockies, and Brett Stephens (2014-17) each hit home runs for the Alumni Team.
Senior Jake Bird started on the mound for the Bruins and threw 4.0 innings allowing two runs on four hits with one strikeout. Junior Daniel Ameral went 1-for-3 and scored twice.
The 2018 UCLA team scored quickly with a run in the first inning as Amaral led off the game with a walk, stole second and later scored off the bat of Toglia.
The Alumni responded in the bottom of the second inning as Stephens hit a two-run, opposite field home run over the left-field wall to plate Nick Valaika (2015-17), who started the inning with a single.
UCLA tied the game in the top of the third as Toglia hit his first double of the day to plate Amaral from second base. They then took the lead the next inning as Jeremy Ydens led off the inning with a single and came around to score on a throwing error.
The Bruins extended its lead in the seventh inning when Toglia hit his third double of the day to right-center field to bring home Jake Hirabayashi from first base. Toglia later scored on a RBI-single to the left side by Kyle Cuellar to make the score 5-2.
Pat Valaika scored the final run of the game for the Alumni in the seventh inning as he hit a solo home run to left field.
UCLA baseball season will begin on Friday, Feb. 16 with a three-game series against Portland at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Once again the Bruins will be offering season ticket packages in 2018. Season-ticket holders will receive access to the best seats in the stadium, priority seating to post-season games and much more. Season tickets are on sale now and fans can put down a deposit by visiting uclabruins.com/tickets, calling 310-UCLA-WIN, or stopping by the Central Ticket Office Monday-Friday 10:00 am – 4:00 pm.
The entire 2018 schedule can be seen here or to have the schedule automatically sync to your personal calendar, click here.