University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
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Arizona
No. 8 Bruins Hit the Road To Arizona for Pac-12 Series
May 02, 2018 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES - The eighth-ranked UCLA baseball team (30-10, 14-4) will conclude their seven-game road swing this weekend when it travels Tucson for a three-game Pac-12 series at Arizona (25-16, 7-11) starting on Thursday at 6 p.m. PT from Hi Corbett Field. All three games of the series will be televised on the Pac-12 Network with Roxy Bernstein and Andy Lopez on the call and the series can also be heard live on UCLABruins.com with Tim Wilhelm on the call.
Probable Starters
Thursday, May 3 - 6 p.m. PT
UCLA - Jake Bird, RHP, Sr. (5-2, 1.83 ERA)
UA - Cody Deason, RHP, Jr. (4-4, 2.70 ERA)
Friday, May 4 - 7 p.m. PT
UCLA - Zach Pettway, RHP, Fr. (7-1, 2.96 ERA)
UA - Michael Flynn, RHP, Jr. (5-3, 4.29 ERA)
Saturday, May 5 - 3:30 p.m. PT
UCLA - Ryan Garcia, RHP, So. (5-0, 1.77 ERA)
UA - TBA
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Weekendย in Review
UCLA has won eight in a row after sweeping Cal Poly for its third-straight weekend sweep and defeating UC Irvine.
- 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.
- The Bruins shutout UCI, 12-0, on Tuesday behind a grand slam by Jake Pries and Daniel Amaral driving in three runs on a double and a triple as UCLA recorded its third shutout of the year.
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 batting average, slugging, on-base percentage, home runs, RBIs, runs scored and walks. Strumpf is also ninth in the NCAA in on-base percentage (.508), while Toglia is 12th 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 85 runs, score 82 times and record 53 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 third in the NCAA in ERA at 2.71 and are also 20th in fielding percentage at 0.979. They are just one of five teams in the country (Florida, East Carolina, Gonzaga, UIC) 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 76 percent of the team's runs and have also tallied 75 percent of the team's hits. In addition, they have scored just over 74 percent of the team's runs and have registered 103 of the 135 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 30-10 record. This is the best start for UCLA since beginning the 2015 season 31-9, becoming the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and also the 2013 season starting 27-13, 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 (3rd, 2.71), Doubles per Game (6th, 2.38), Sacrifice Flies (6th, 28), On-Base Percentage (6th, .408), WHIP (8th, 1.19), Scoring (9th, 7.5), Walks Allowed Per Nine Innings (13th, 2.93), Doubles (16th, 95) and Fielding Percentage (20th, .979).
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 the conference in batting average, slugging, on-base percentage, home runs, RBIs, runs scored and walks. Jeremy Ydens is 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 27 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 UA
Arizona enters the weekend with a 25-17 record this season but are just 7-11 in the Pac-12 play and have dropped five of their last six conference games including losing the series at Utah last weekend. The Wildcat offense is led by Alfonso Rivas batting .355 with a team-high 43 RBIs, while Nick Quintana is the team leader with eight home runs and 15 doubles. On the mound, Cody Deason is 4-4 this year with a 2.70 ERA in 10 starts with 61 strikeouts, while Michael Flynn has a 4.29 ERA and a 5-3 record. Tylor Megill leads with the team with six saves in 15 appearances with a 3.60 ERA.
History against the Wildcats
UCLA is 130-120-2 all-time against Arizona and 10-8 since 2012 after dropping two out of three last season to the Wildcats at Jackie Robinson Stadium. On the road, UCLA is 4-5 against UA in its last three trips to Tucson. The Bruins are 23-17 against the Wildcats 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
Looking Ahead
UCLA returns to Jackie Robinson Stadium for a midweek contest against Long Beach State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. PT before going back on the road for a three-game Pac-12 series at Washington beginning on Friday, May 11 at 6 p.m. PT.
