University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
UCLA
UC Irvine
No. 8 Bruins Continue Road Swing at UC Irvine
April 30, 2018 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES - The eighth-ranked UCLA baseball team (29-10) will continue a seven-game road swing on Tuesday when it travels to UC Irvine (25-17) for a midweek game starting at 6:30 p.m. PT. The game can be heard live on UCLABruins.com with Tim Wilhelm on the call.
Probable Starters
Tuesday, May 1ย - 6:30 p.m. PT
UCLA - Jack Ralston, RHP, R-So. (0-3, 7.00 ERA)
UCI - Jake Lachemann, RHP, Fr. (2-0, 3.63 ERA)
Live Audio | Live Stats | Follow @UCLABaseball
Weekendย in Review
UCLA has won seven in a row after winning three at Cal Poly for its third-straight weekend sweep.
- UCLA won the series opener against Cal Poly, 9-5, as Jeremy Ydens hit a two-run home run and a RBI-triple and Jack Stronach drove in two runs with two doubles.
- The Bruins won game two, 6-3, when Kevin Kendall drove in two runs on two hits with a triple, while Zach Pettway tossed 6.2 strong innings.
- UCLA won the series finale, 6-4, as Chase Strumpf hit a home run and scored twice and Garrett Mitchell went 2-for-3 with two RBIs for the first seven-game winning streak for the Bruins since March of 2015.
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 on the weekend have thrown over 180 innings and have allowed 50 earned runs for a 2.45 ERA. The weekend starters have also totaled 129 strikeouts compared to just 41 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-10 in the Pac-12 in slugging percentage, RBIs, runs scored, doubles, home runs and walks. Strumpf is also eighth in the NCAA in on-base percentage (.503), while Toglia is 10th 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 83 runs, score 77 times and record 52 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 15 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 games remains true for the Bruins this season as they rank fifth in the NCAA in ERA at 2.78 and are also 20th in fielding percentage at 0.978. They are just one of four teams in the country (Florida, East Carolina, Gonzaga) that rank in the top-20 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 first in batting average (.318), runs scored (147), RBIs (136) and on-base percentage (.425). They are also top-3 in slugging percentage (.471), hits (195) and doubles (40). UCLA is scoring over eight runs a game against Pac-12 opponents including averaging more than 11 runs over the last three Pac-12 weekends.
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 more than 78 percent of the team's runs and have also tallied 75 percent of the team's hits. In addition, they have scored just over 72 percent of the team's runs and have registered 101 of the 130 extra-base hits.
The Bruins Keeping Pace
The Bruins continue to keep pace with some of the great UCLA teams of the recent past with a 29-10 record. This is the best start for UCLA since beginning the 2015 season 30-9, becoming the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and also the 2013 season starting 27-12, the year the Bruins won its first-ever NCAA championship.
NCAA Rankings
More than halfway through the college baseball season and the Bruins are ranked top-25 nationally in a number of categories:
- ERA (5th, 2.78), Doubles per Game (6th, 2.36), Sacrifice Flies (7th, 27), On-Base Percentage (7th, .407), WHIP (8th, 1.18), Scoring (13th, 7.4), Walks Allowed Per Nine Innings (13th, 2.93), Doubles (18th, 92), Fielding Percentage (20th, .978), Hits Allowed Per Nine Inning (25th, 7.83).
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, batting average, slugging, 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-10 in slugging percentage, home runs, RBIs, runs and walks. Strumpf is also top-10 in batting average and on-base percentage, while Toglia is first in doubles. Jeremy Ydens in eighth in the conference in batting average and Daniel Amaral is top-10 in on-base percentage, runs scored, and stolen bases.
- On the mound, Zach Pettway is top-11 in ERA, wins and innings pitched, while Jake Bird is third in the conference in ERA and tops in innings pitched. Ryan Garica leads the conference in opposing batting average and is second in ERA. Nick Scheidler leads the Pac-12 with 26 appearances and Holden Powell is tied for fifth with six saves.
In The Polls
UCLA made a jump inside the top-10 in the national polls after going 4-0 last week including earning its third-straight weekend sweep. Baseball America has the Bruins at No. 8, up one spot from last week and D1Baseball has UCLA shooting up two spots to No. 7 in the country. The ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll has the Bruins climbing to No. 7 as well after being No. 9 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 UCI
UC Irvine enters Tuesday's matchup with a 25-17 mark after dropping all three games at home to Cal State Fullerton over the weekend. The Anteaters are led offensively by Ryan Fitzpatrick hitting a team-best .340 with 38 RBIs and seven home runs. UC Irvine's head coach Mike Gillespie announced that after this season he will retire after 31 seasons of being a head coach in Southern California. Gillespie is one of only two people to win a College World Series as both a player and a coach, both at USC. Coach Savage was the pitching coach for Gillespie when the Trojans won the national title in 1998.
History against the Anteaters
UCLA is 54-33-1 all-time against UC Irvine and are 7-5 since 2013, but dropped a 8-1 decision at Jackie Robinson Stadium on April 17. On the road, UCLA is 3-2 against the Anteaters since 2013. The Bruins are 20-12 against the Anteaters 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:
- Michael Toglia - 1B - No. 4
- Chase Strumpf - 2B - No. 9
- Daniel Amaral - OF - No. 72
- Zach Pettway - SP - No. 90
- Jake Bird - SP - No. 97
- Jon Olsen - SP - No. 99
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'sย top 2019 MLB draft prospects list.
Looking Ahead
UCLA will complete its seven-game road swing over the weekend when it heads to Tucson for a three-game Pac-12 series at Arizona beginning on Thursday, May 3 at 6 p.m. PT. All three games of the weekend series will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
