Four Bruins Earn All-Pac-12 Honors
May 31, 2018 | Baseball
SAN FRANCISCO โ UCLA baseball's Jake Bird, Chase Strumpf, Michael Toglia and Jeremy Ydens were each selected to the Pac-12 All-Conference Team, as voted on by the conference's 11 head coaches, announced the Pac-12 office on Thursday. In addition, Daniel Amaral was named to the Pac-12 All-Defensive Team.
Four more Bruins were named All-Pac-12 honorable mention as Amaral, Ryan Garcia, Kyle Mora and Zach Pettway each earned postseason league accolades.
Bird, a senior right-handed pitcher, earned the ERA title in the Pac-12 as he finished the regular season with a 1.99 ERA in 15 starts with a 7-4 record and also ranks third in the conference with 104.0 innings pitched. A native of Stevenson Ranch, Calif., he recorded a 6-3 mark in Pac-12 play with a 2.38 ERA. Bird set a career-high with 8.0 innings pitched three times this season including tossing his first two career complete games on the road at Arizona and Oregon State. He also set a career-best with eight strikeouts against Oregon on May 18. Bird has recorded 14 quality starts this season out of 15 starts.
Strumpf, a sophomore infielder who was also named a second-team All-American by Collegiate Baseball today, ranks top-10 in the Pac-12 in 10 offensive categories including batting average, runs scored, RBIs and home runs. He finished the regular season batting .357 with 74 hits, 53 runs and 52 RBIs. He also tallied 31 extra-base hits including 12 home runs. Strumpf also led the Pac-12 in assists with 166 from second base. In conference play, he hit .345 with 23 RBIs, 27 runs and five home runs. The Dana Point, Calif. native became the fourth Bruin since 2001 with 50-plus RBIs and 10-plus home runs in a season. Strumpf was named a semifinalist for the Dick Howser award and was named Pac-12 Player of the Week on April 9.
Toglia, a sophomore infielder, is in the top-10 in the conference in on-base percentage, RBIs, home runs, doubles, total bases and walks. He ended the regular season hitting .330 with 71 hits, 47 runs scored and a team-high 53 RBIs. Toglia recorded 21 doubles and is the third Bruins since 2010 to record 20 or more doubles in a season, while also tallying 11 home runs. In conference play, he registered 35 RBIs, tied for the second-most in the Pac-12. A native of Gig Harbor, Wash., Toglia joined Strumpf to become the fifth Bruin with 10-plus home runs and 50-plus RBIs since 2001. He was also tabbed the Gold Standard Performance of the Week by the Golden Spikes Award on April 25.
Ydens, a sophomore outfielder, finished Pac-12 play hitting a conference-best .406, while also finishing second in slugging at .693 and sixth in on-base percentage at .461. In conference play, he also recorded 21 RBIs, 24 runs, 10 doubles and five home runs. Overall, Ydens finished top-10 in the Pac-12 in batting average, triples and stolen bases. The Campbell, Calif. native ended the regular season hitting a team-best .362 to go along with 46 runs scored, 38 RBIs and 26 extra-bases including six home runs. Ydens also earned Pac-12 Player of the Week on May 21.
Amaral, a junior outfielder, earned his second honorable mention nod and his first all-defensive team honors as he started and played in 51 games in centerfield this season and did not commit an error while also tallying five assists. He ranks top-10 in the Pac-12 in runs scored, stolen bases and hit by pitches. He ended the regular season batting .282 with a career-best 33 RBIs, 48 runs scored and 12 stolen bases. He also recorded 21 extra-base hits with 15 doubles and three home runs.
Garcia, a sophomore right-handed pitcher, made 21 appearances on the mound including 11 starts and finished with a 7-1 record with a 2.34 ERA. He ranks tops in the Pac-12 in opposing batting average at .195 and also third in ERA. He also tallied 67 strikeouts in 69.1 innings. Garcia recorded a career-high 6.2 innings at Oregon State in the regular-season finale and also tallied a career-best nine strikeouts in a start against Loyola Marymount on March 6.
Mora, a sophomore right-handed pitcher, made 32 appearances on the mound with one start this season and finished third in the Pac-12 in appearances.ย He holds a 5-2 record with a 1.69 ERA and three saves. In 48.0 innings of work, opponents hit .157 against him and struck out 39 batters. In Pac-12 play, Mora was 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA in 18 appearances with 15 strikeouts and held opponents to a .154 batting average.
Pettway, a freshman right-handed pitcher, finished the season 8-4 with a 3.51 ERA in 15 appearances, including 14 starts. He recorded a team-best 74 strikeouts in 89.2 innings of work. Pettway ended the regular season top-10 in the Pac-12 in wins, strikeouts and innings pitched. He is the first Bruin freshman since 2012 to start his career 5-0 and also the first UCLA freshman since Adam Plutko in 2011 to start and earn a win on the opening weekend. Pettway tossed 8.0 shutout innings against Baylor in his second career start and set a career-high with 10 strikeouts at Arizona on May 4.
UCLA begins postseason play on Friday, June 1 as the No. 2 seed in the Minneapolis Regional and will face No. 3 seed Gonzaga starting at 11 a.m. (PT) from Siebert Field. The game will be broadcasted live on ESPN3.
