UCLA
Arizona State
No. 16 Bruins Continue Pac-12 Play with ASU at Home
March 21, 2018 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES - The 16th-ranked UCLA baseball team (13-4, 3-0) will continue Pac-12 conference play this weekend when it welcomes Arizona State (11-10, 3-0) for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 7 p.m. PT at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Each game of the series will be televised on Pac-12 Networks with J.B. Long and Scott Erickson on the call and can also be heard live on UCLABruins.com with Tim Wilhelm on the call.
Probably Starters
Friday, March 23 - 7 p.m. PT
UCLA - Jake Bird, RHP, Sr. (2-1, 0.86 ERA)
ASU - Sam Romero, RHP, Jr. (1-0, 3.91 ERA)
Saturday, March 24 - 1 p.m. PT
UCLA - Zach Pettway, RHP, Fr. (3-0, 2.51 ERA)
ASU - Boyd Vander Kooi, RHP, Fr. (3-1, 1.07 ERA)
Sunday, March 25 - 12 p.m. PT
UCLA - TBA
ASU - Eli Lingos, LHP, Sr. (3-1, 3.09 ERA)
Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats | Follow @UCLABaseball
Week in Review
UCLA opened Pac-12 play at home last weekend and earned a sweep against Washington State.
- UCLA earned a 6-5 win in the first game of the Pac-12 season as Jake Pries and Jack Stronach each recorded two hits, while Michael Toglia drove in two runs.
- On Saturday, the Bruins erased a 5-1 deficit to beat the Cougars 8-5 as Jake Hirabayashi drove in three runs on two base hits, while Jeremy Ydens went 3-for-3 with two RBIs and Chase Strumpf hit a home run.
- UCLA earned the series sweep by once again coming from behind when RJ Teijeiro drove in the game-winning run with a two-run single in the eighth inning and Holden Powell tossed three shutout innings in relief to win 5-4.
Closing in on 800
UCLA head coach John Savage is nearing a milestone mark at UCLA. The skipper is scheduled to surpass 800 career games at UCLA on March 29 at California as he sits at 796 games. 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 coached for the Bruins. 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 season.
Toglia Sets the Pace
Sophomore Michael Toglia is leading the Bruin offense so far the season. Toglia comes into the game leading the team hitting .377, slugging .689 and recording a .519 on-base percentages. Toglia has four home runs this season, including two at Cal State Fullerton from both sides of the plate, has driven in 15 runs and has also stole two bases. He ranks inside the top-50 in the country in on-base percentage and walks and 52nd in slugging percentage.
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. Through the first 17 games of the season, Bruin starting pitchers have thrown 99.0 innings and have allowed 21 earned runs for a 1.91 ERA. The four starters have also totaled 81 strikeouts compared to just 23 walks, good or a 3.5 strikeout-to-walk ratio and are 9-1 this season.
Hot Start for the Bruins
The Bruins are off to a fast start this year as they enter the weekend with a 13-4 record. This is the best start for UCLA since beginning the 2015 season 13-4, becoming the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and also the 2013 season starting 13-3, the year the Bruins won its first-ever NCAA championship.
Oh the Places You'll Go
This season, the Bruins had a unique opportunity to do something that may never have been done in college baseball. UCLA will be playing consecutive Sundays in stadiums that hosted the most recent Super Bowl as U.S. Bank Stadium welcomed Super Bowl LII with the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots, and the most recent World Series game as Dodger Stadium was the site of Game 7 between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
NCAA Rankings
Getting into the sixth weekend of the college baseball season, the Bruins are ranked top-25 nationally in a number of categories:
- WHIP (10th, 1.11), ERA (11th, 2.44), Hits Allowed Per Nine Innings (12th, 6.91), Sacrifice Flies (21st, 12), Fielding Percentage (18th, .982), Doubles per Game (21st, 2.35).
Pac-12 Leaders
UCLA is ranked in the top-3 in the conference both individually and as a team in a number of categories:
- As a team, UCLA is tops in the Pac-12 in doubles and walks, while top-3 in on-base percentage, sacrifice flies, stolen bases, ERA, opposing batting average, runs allowed, hits allowed, walks allowed and fielding percentage.
- Individually, Michael Toglia is top-10 in the Pac-12 conference in batting average, hits, home runs, slugging percentage, doubles and on-base percentage. Chase Strumpf is also top-10 in slugging percentage, RBIs and home runs. Zach Pettway is top-10 in strikeouts, opposing batting average, and innings pitched, while Jake Bird is second in the conference in ERA and Ryan Garcia is fourth.
In The Polls
UCLA stayed steady in the national polls after going sweeping a weekend series at home against Washington State last week. Baseball America has the Bruins at No. 16, the same spot as last week and D1Baseball has UCLA steady No. 17 in the country, while the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll has the Bruins up two spots to No. 13.
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.
Baby Bruins
The Bruins welcome eight new players to Westwood for the 2018 season. The recruiting class was ranked No. 16 by Baseball America, marking the fourth consecutive year that UCLA has been tabbed in the top 25. The class was also tabbed No. 18 by Collegiate Baseball. It marks the 11th time in 13 years the Bruins have earned a top-20 ranking from Collegiate Baseball.
- Garrett Mitchell, Sam Glick and Chase Farrell were selected in the 2017 MLB draft in June.
- Holden Powell was named to the All-West Coast League second team selection, while Zach Pettway was named an honorable mention over the summer.
- Mitchell was named the Preseason Freshman of the Year in the Pac-12 by Baseball America.
Scouting ASU
Arizona State enters the weekend with a 11-10 mark after sweeping Oregon to begin the Pac-12 season and falling to UNLV at home on Wednesday, 10-3. ASU as a team is hitting .305 and is averaging 5.8 runs per game. The Sun Devils offense is led by Gage Canning hitting just under .500 with 43 hits, 20 RBIs and 20 runs. Spencer Torkelson leads the team with 22 RBIs and 10 home runs. On the mound, Boyd Vander Kooi leads the starting rotation with a 1.07 ERA in four starts and has one complete game this season. Chaz Montoya has a 1.29 ERA in 10 relief appearances and has collected five saves this season.
History against the Sun Devils
The Bruins are 74-118 against Arizona State all-time but the Bruins won two out of three games last season in Phoenix. UCLA and ASU have been even over the last few seasons as both teams are 6-6 since 2014, but the Sun Devils have taken four out of six at Jackie Robinson Stadium over that time. Under head coach John Savage, UCLA is 15-24 against the Arizona State.
Positional Rankings
D1Baseball has ranked the top players in the country by position and a number of Bruins have made the positional rankings:
- Michael Toglia - 1B - No. 9
- Chase Strumpf - 2B - No. 13
- Ryan Kreidler - SS - No. 23
- Jon Olsen - SP - No. 33
- Daniel Amaral - OF - No. 59
- Kyle Molnar - SP - No. 70
- Garrett Mitchell - OF - No. 81
Draft Stock
UCLA has several players that are ranked inside the top 100 MLB draft prospects in the country.
- Kyle Molnar was named the No. 10 2018 draft prospect by Baseball America and No. 13 by D1Baseball in the Pac-12. He was also tabbed the No. 91 overall college draft prospect by D1Baseball.
- Jon Olsen was pegged No. 14 by Baseball America and No. 16 by D1Baseball in the Pac-12 for 2018 draft prospects.
- Daniel Amaral and Jake Bird were each named to D1Baseball's list of 2018 draft prospects in the Pac-12.
- Bird was also named as one of the top college senior draft prospects by D1Baseball and baseball America.
- Michael Toglia was tabbed the No. 1 draft prospect in the Pac-12 by D1Baseball for the 2019 MLB draft and No. 8 by Baseball America. He was also tabbed the 12th-highest prospect overall by D1Baseball.
- In addition to Toglia, Chase Strumpf, Ryan Kreidler, Jeremy Ydens and Jack Stronach were on D1Baseball's top 2019 MLB draft prospects list.
Looking Ahead
The Bruins will be on the road for the first time during Pac-12 play this season when they travel to north to take on California in a three-game conference series beginning on Thursday, March 29 at 7 p.m. PT at Evans Diamond.
