Kevin KendallKevin Kendall
Scott Chandler

Kevin Kendall (photo by Scott Chandler)

No. 11 Bruins Return Home to Host Long Beach State

Baseball

The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network starting at 6 p.m. PT.

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LOS ANGELES - The 11th-ranked UCLA baseball team (30-13) is set to host Long Beach State (21-26) for a midweek contest on Tuesday starting at 6 p.m. PT at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network with Jim Watson and Dean Stotz on the call and can also be heard live on UCLABruins.com with Tim Wilhelm on the call.

Probable Starters
Tuesday May 8 - 6 p.m. PT
UCLA - Jack Ralston, RHP, R-So. (0-3, 5.73 ERA)
LBSU - Jake Lopez, RHP, Fr. (0-0, 5.17 ERA)

Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats | Follow @UCLABaseball

Weekend in Review
UCLA dropped all three games over the weekend at Arizona to fall to 14-7 in Pac-12 play.

  • UCLA fell in the series opener 2-0, as Jeremy Ydens went 2-for-4 with a double, while Jake Bird tossed his first career complete game surrendering two runs.
  • The Bruins dropped game two, 3-1, when Zach Pettway threw seven innings and recorded a career-best 10 strikeouts, while Chase Strumpf recorded two base hits.
  • UCLA fell in the series finale, 6-3 as Chase Strumpf hit a two-run home and Kevin Kendall recorded two hits with a double as the Bruins were swept for the first time since 2016.

Starting Pitchers Lead the Way
Under head coach John Savage, the UCLA baseball team has been known for its starting pitching and this year is no different. Well into the second half of the season, Bruin starting pitchers have thrown 238.1 innings and have allowed 66 earned runs for a 2.49 ERA. The starters have also totaled 178 strikeouts compared to just 56 walks, good or a 3.2 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Dynamic Duo
Sophomores Chase Strumpf and Michael Toglia are leading the UCLA run production this season. The duo both rank top-11 in the Pac-12 in slugging, on-base percentage, home runs, RBIs, doubles and walks. Strumpf is also 10th in the NCAA in on-base percentage (.507), while Toglia is 20th in the country in doubles (18). Toglia was named the winner of the Gold Standard Performance of the Week by the Golden Spikes Award on April 25 and Strumpf earned Pac-12 Player of the Week honors on April 8. The right-side of the UCLA infield has combined to drive in 87 runs, score 83 times and record 54 extra-base hits. They are also the only two UCLA players to start every game this season.

Big Innings
The UCLA offense has scored in bunches to help facilitate a potent offense in 2018. This season, the Bruins have scored five or more runs in an inning 16 times already this season. That is the most by a UCLA offense since 2013 when the Bruins recorded 11 in 66 games and won the national championship. In addition, the offense has done a great job of picking up the pitching staff. After allowing a run on defense, UCLA has answered with two or more runs 15 times in the next half inning.

Pitching and Defense
The old adage that pitching and defense wins ball games remains true for the Bruins this season as they rank fifth in the NCAA in ERA at 2.77 and are also 15th in fielding percentage at 0.979. They are just one of three teams in the country (Florida and East Carolina) that rank in the top-15 in both ERA and fielding percentage this season.

Pac-12 Hitting
The UCLA offense has been one of the best in the conference during Pac-12 play. In conference games, the Bruins are top-3 in batting average (.302), runs scored (151), RBIs (140), on-base percentage (.405), doubles (43) and walks (103). UCLA is scoring over seven runs a game against Pac-12 opponents.

Youth Movement
This year the Bruins offense is being led by a talented group of underclassmen. The freshmen and sophomores have combined to drive in 77 percent of the team's runs and have also tallied 75 percent of the team's hits. In addition, they have scored just over 70 percent of the team's runs and have registered 107 of the 139 extra-base hits.

The Bruins Keeping Pace
UCLA continues to keep pace with some of the great UCLA teams of the recent past with a 30-13 record. This is the best record for the Bruins at this point of the season since the 2015 season when they were 32-11, becoming the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and also the 2013 season starting 30-13, the year the Bruins won its first-ever NCAA championship.

NCAA Rankings
With just one quarter of the college baseball season remaining, the Bruins are ranked top-25 nationally in a number of categories:

  • ERA (5th, 2.77), WHIP (8th, 1.18), Doubles per Game (8th, 2.28), Walks Allowed Per Nine Innings (11th, 2.91), On-Base Percentage (13th, .400), Sacrifice Flies (14th, 28), Fielding Percentage (15th, .979) and Doubles (21st, 98).

Pac-12 Leaders
UCLA is ranked in the top-3 in the conference as a team and top-10 individually in a number of categories::

  • As a team, the Bruins are top-3 in ERA, on-base percentage, runs scored, RBIs, doubles, walks, sacrifice flies, stolen bases, opposing batting average, runs allowed, hits allowed, walks allowed and fielding percentage.
  • Offensively, Chase Strumpf and Michael Toglia are top-11 in the conference in slugging, on-base percentage, home runs, RBIs, doubles and walks. Strumpf is also top-10 in batting average and runs scored. Jeremy Ydens ranks inside the top-10 in batting average, doubles and stolen bases, while Daniel Amaral is top-10 in on-base percentage and stolen bases.
  • On the mound, Zach Pettway is top-11 in ERA, strikeouts, opposing batting average, wins and innings pitched, while Jake Bird is second in the conference in ERA and tops in innings pitched. Ryan Garica leads the conference in opposing batting average and is fifth in ERA. Nick Scheidler leads the Pac-12 with 29 appearances and Holden Powell is tied for fifth with six saves.

Savage Surpassing Milestones
UCLA head coach John Savage reached a milestone mark at UCLA this season and is looking to surpass another one. The skipper reached 800 career games at UCLA on March 29 at California and is just six games away from coaching in game No. 1,000 of his career. Savage is the third longest-tenured coach in program history behind Gary Adams (1975-2004) with over 1,800 career games and Arthur Reichle (1941, 1946-74) with over 1,300 games. Coach Savage has the highest winning percentage of any coach since 1926 and has taken the Bruins to new heights with its first national championship in 2013, three College World Series appearances and led UCLA to postseason play in nine seasons.

In The Polls
UCLA slipped outside the top-10 in the national polls after going 1-3 last week on the road. Baseball America has the Bruins at No. 11, down three spot from last week and D1Baseball has UCLA sliding back four spots to No. 11 in the country. The ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll has the Bruins dropping to No. 14 after being No. 7 last week.

Representing the Red, White and Blue
Over the summer in 2017, head coach John Savage was the manager of the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team and right-handed pitcher Jon Olsen became the first Bruin to play for Team USA since James Kaprielian in 2014. Savage led the U.S. to a 15-5 record over the summer, including holding an 11-4 mark during international play. The United States won all three international series it competed in, including going 4-0 against Chinese Taipei and 3-2 versus both Cuba and Japan. Olsen finished the summer with a 1-0 record and a 2.67 ERA in six appearances for the red, white and blue. He also registered 15 strikeouts compared to just two walks.

Scouting LBSU
Long Beach State enters Tuesday's contest with a 21-26 record after sweeping UC Riverside on the road over the weekend and have won five of their last seven games. Clayton Andrews leads the LBSU offense hitting .304 with 24 RBIs, while Jarren Duran has a team-best 53 hits including two home runs. As a pitching staff, LBSU has a 3.94 ERA but averages over eight strikeouts a game. Closer Chris Rivera has 11 saves this season and holds a 2.89 ERA.

History against the Dirtbags
UCLA is 65-45 all-time against Long Beach State and are 4-3 over its last seven meetings, including dropping the midweek matchup on April 10 on the road, 5-2. At home, the Bruins are also 3-1 over the Dirtbags over their last four games at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The Bruins are 16-14 against LBSU under head coach John Savage.

Positional Rankings
With the season past its halfway point, D1Baseball updated its positional power rankings and a number of Bruins have made the positional rankings:

Looking Ahead
UCLA returns to Pac-12 play this weekend when it travels to Seattle to face Washington for a three-game conference series beginning on Friday, May 11 at 6 p.m. PT from Husky Ballpark.