UCLA
Oregon State
No. 16 Bruins Set for Final Series at No. 2 Oregon State
May 23, 2018 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES - The 16th-ranked UCLA baseball team (35-17, 18-9) will travel to No. 2 Oregon State (42-9-1, 18-8-1) for the final series of the regular season this week in a top-25 matchup. The Pac-12 series begins on Thursday at 4 p.m. PT from Goss Stadium. All three games of the series will be televised with the first two games on the Pac-12 Network and the regular-season finale on ESPNU with Roxy Bernstein and Wes Clements on the call and can also be heard live on UCLABruins.com with Tim Wilhelm on the call.
Probable Starters
Thursday, May 24 - 4 p.m. PT
UCLA - Jake Bird, RHP, Sr. (7-3, 1.97 ERA)
OSU - Luke Heimlich, LHP, Sr. (13-1, 2.69 ERA)
Friday, May 25 - 4 p.m. PT
UCLA - Zach Pettway, RHP, Fr. (8-3, 3.42 ERA)
OSU - Bryce Fehmel, RHP, Jr. (8-1, 2.93 ERA)
Saturday, May 26 - 2 p.m. PT
UCLA - Ryan Garcia, RHP, So. (6-1, 2.59 ERA)
OSU - TBA
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Weekendย in Review
UCLA swept Oregon over the weekend by a combined score of 37-7 as the Bruins won all five of their home conference series for the first time since 2015 and finished Pac-12 play 13-2 at home.
- UCLA won the series opener against the Ducks, 12-4, behind Kevin Kendall driving in three runs with a double and a triple, while Jake Bird tossed 8.0 innings on the mound and set a career-high with eight strikeouts.
- The Bruins clinched the series with a 15-1 win as Jeremy Ydens hit two home runs and drove in five runs and Daniel Amaral hit a home run and a double.
- UCLA earned the series sweep on Senior Day, 10-2, when Ryan Kreidler hit a home run and drove in two runs, while Jeremy Ydens recorded two base hits and three RBIs.
Ydens Named Pac-12 Player of the Week
Sophomore Jeremy Ydens was been named the Pac-12 Baseball Player of the Week on Monday. Against the Ducks, he led the way batting .571 (8-14) with two home runs, two triples and drove in 10 runs while scoring eight times. Ydens set a career-high with four RBIs on Tuesday against CSUN and then set his career mark again on Saturday with two home runs and five RBIs in a 15-1 victory versus Oregon. Over the four-game stretch, he drove in at least two runs in each game this week and tied a career-high of three hits three times. He is the second Bruin to win the award as Chase Strumpf won on April 8.
Savage Surpassing Milestones
UCLA head coach John Savage reached two milestone marks this season. The skipper reached 800 career games at UCLA on March 29 at California and surpassed his 1,000th game of his coaching career last week. 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.
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. Heading into the final weekend of the season, Bruin starting pitchers have thrown over 285 innings and have allowed 88 earned runs for a 2.78 ERA. The starters have also totaled 217 strikeouts compared to just 77 walks, good or a 2.8 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The rotation is led by Jake Bird who is tops in the conference with a 1.97 ERA and second in innings pitched with 96.0.
Dynamic Duo
Sophomores Chase Strumpf and Michael Toglia are becoming one of the most prolific Bruin teammates of the last 20 years. The right-side of the UCLA infield became the first Bruin duo since 2007 to hit double-digit home runs in the same season when Cody Decker (14) and Gabe Cohen (10) accomplished the feat. Strumpf and Toglia also became just the fourth and fifth Bruins since 2001 with 50-plus RBIs and 10-plus home runs in the same season. The pair is the first UCLA teammates since 2008 to each drive in over 50 runs in the same season (Casey Haerther, 52 and Brandon Crawford, 51).
Ydens is Heating Up
Sophomore Jeremy Ydens has been on fire for the Bruins from the lead-off spot this season. He is leading the conference during Pac-12 play hitting .429 and is also second in slugging at .714 and fourth in on-base percentage at .481. The reigning Pac-12 Player of the Week is hitting .444 in the last 10 games with 17 RBIs and 14 runs scored with three home runs and two triples. He is also leading the team with five stolen bases over that span. Since moving to the lead-off spot, the sophomore is hitting .421 in 29 games with 28 RBIs and 20 extra-base hits.
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 20 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 20 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 sixth in the NCAA in ERA at 2.98 and are also seventh in fielding percentage at 0.981. They are just one of two teams in the country (Gonzaga) that rank in the top-10 in both ERA and fielding percentage this season.
Strumpf Named Semifinalist for Dick Howser Trophy
UCLA's Chase Strumpf was named a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy presented by The Game Headwear. The award, given to the top player in collegiate baseball, is based on two rounds of national voting. The Dick Howser Trophy, given in memory of the former Florida State University All-America shortstop and major league player and manager, who died of brain cancer in 1987, is regarded by many as college baseball's most prestigious award. Strumpf is one of eight Pac-12 players to be named a semifinalist. The finalists will be announced on Friday, June 8.
Pair of Bruins Named to Academic All-District Team
UCLA right-handed pitcher Jake Bird and catcher Daniel Rosica each secured Google Cloud Academic All-District 8 team honors, as announced by the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). Bird and Rosica become the first UCLA baseball players to earn the All-District academic honor since Ryan Deeter won back-to-back awards in 2012-13. In addition, Rosica was also named the UCLA Male Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
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 (.305), on-base percentage (.403), home runs (24), runs scored (205), RBIs (188), hits (281), doubles (54) and walks (129). UCLA is scoring 7.6 runs a game and averaging over 10 hits 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 79 percent of the team's runs and have also tallied 77 percent of the team's hits. In addition, they have scored just over 73 percent of the team's runs and have registered 131 of the 167 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 35-17 record. This is the best record for the Bruins at this point of the season since the 2015 season when they were 40-12, becoming the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and also the 2013 season starting 37-15, the year the Bruins won its first-ever NCAA championship.
NCAA Rankings
With just one week left of the college baseball season remaining, the Bruins are ranked top-25 nationally in a number of categories:
- Sacrifice Flies (1st, 38), ERA (6th, 2.98), Fielding Percentage (7th, .981), WHIP (9th, 1.21), On-Base Percentage (12th, .399), Scoring (14th, 7.3), Doubles Per Game (15th, 2.17), Doubles (22nd, 113), Walks Allowed Per Nine Innings (21st, 3.04) Runs (23rd, 378) and Hits Allowed Per Nine Innings (25th, 7.82).
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, 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 on-base percentage, home runs, RBIs, doubles, runs and walks. Strumpf is also top-10 in batting average and slugging. Jeremy Ydens ranks inside the top-10 in batting average, doubles, triples and stolen bases. Daniel Amaral and Kevin Kendall are both top-10 in the conference in stolen bases and Amaral is also top-10 in runs scored.
- On the mound, Jake Bird is tops in the conference in ERA and second in innings pitched, while Ryan Garica leads the conference in opposing batting average and is fifth in ERA. Zach Pettway is top-10 in wins, strikeouts and innings pitched. Nick Scheidler leads the Pac-12 with 36 appearances and Holden Powell is tied for sixth with six saves.
In The Polls
UCLA held steady in the national polls after going 4-0 last week. Baseball America has the Bruins at No. 16, up one spot from last week and D1Baseball has UCLA holding at No. 18 in the country. The ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll has the Bruins staying in their same No. 18 ranking from last week as well.
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 Oregon State
Oregon State comes into the weekend as the second-ranked team in the national polls with a 42-9-1 overall record, including 18-8-1 in Pac-12 play after taking two out of three at USC last weekend. The Beaver offense is hitting .324 as a team this season and is averaging just under eight runs per contest. It is led by Nick Madrigal batting .435 after missing some time this season due to injury and Adley Rutschman hitting .402 with 63 RBIs. Trevor Larnach is the team leader with 64 RBIs and 17 home runs. The OSU pitching staff is led Luke Heimlich with a 13-1 record and a 2.69 ERA in 14 starts this season and has struck out 129 batters. Jake Mulholland has collected 14 saves this season with a team-best 2.41 ERA in 24 appearances.
History against the Beavers
The Bruins are 37-36 against Oregon State all-time as UCLA dropped two out of three games last season at home but did record one of only six OSU losses last season. UCLA is 3-9 against the Beavers over the last four seasons. Under head coach John Savage, UCLA is 13-25 vs. Oregon State.
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
