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University of California, Los Angeles, Athletics
No. 2 Seed Bruins Begin Play at Minneapolis Regional
May 31, 2018 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES - The UCLA baseball team earned a No. 2 seed at the NCAA Baseball Tournament's Minneapolis Regional, beginning Friday, June 1 at Siebert Field against No. 3 seed Gonzaga. The Bruins earned their 22nd overall postseason berth and the 10th under head coach John Savage. They will be traveling to a Regional outside of the state of California for the first time since 2004 and are a No. 2 seed for the first time since 2008. Each game of the Regional will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks and can also be heard live on UCLABruins.com with Tim Wilhelm on the call.
Regional Schedule
Friday, June 1
11 a.m. PT - Game One: (2) UCLA vs. (3) Gonzaga
5 p.m. PT - Game Two: (1) Minnesota vs. (4) Canisius
Saturday, June 2
11 a.m. PT - Game Three: Loser of Game One vs. Loser of Game Two (Elimination Game)
5 p.m. PT - Game Four: Winner of Game One vs. Winner of Game Two
Sunday, June 3
Noon PT - Game Five: Winner of Game Three vs. Loser of Game Four (Elimination Game)
4 p.m. PT - Game Six: Winner of Game Five vs. Winner of Game Four (Championship Game)
Monday, June 3
4 p.m. PT - Game Seven (if necessary): If Winner of Game Five wins Game Six vs. Winner of Game Four
Live Video | Live Audio | Live Stats | Follow @UCLABaseball
All-Pac-12 Selections
Four UCLA players earned All-Pac-12 honors on Thursday as Jake Bird, Chase Strumpf, Michael Toglia and Jeremy Ydens were named to the Pac-12 Baseball All-Conference Team. In addition, Daniel Amaral was named to the All-Defensive Team and earned All-Pac-12 honorable mention, while Ryan Garcia, Kyle Mora and Zach Pettway also were named honorable mentions.
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 against Oregon on May 18. 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 10 seasons, including three of the last four years.
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 postseason play, Bruin starting pitchers have thrown over 305 innings and have allowed 93 earned runs for a 2.74 ERA. The starters have also totaled 227 strikeouts compared to just 84 walks, good or a 2.7 strikeout-to-walk ratio. The rotation is led by Jake Bird who is tops in the conference with a 1.99 ERA and third in innings pitched with 104.0.
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 are just the fourth and fifth Bruins since 2001 with 50-plus RBIs and 10-plus home runs in the same season. The pair also became 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 led the conference during Pac-12 play hitting .406 and is also second in slugging at .693 and sixth in on-base percentage at .461. The outfielder is hitting .429 in the last 10 games with 18 RBIs and 15 runs scored with four home runs and two triples. He is also leading the team with four stolen bases over that span. Since moving to the lead-off spot, the sophomore is hitting .404 in 32 games with 30 RBIs and 21 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 third in the NCAA in ERA at 2.94 and are also fourth in fielding percentage at 0.982. 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 was one of the best in the conference during Pac-12 play. In conference games, the Bruins were top-3 in batting average (.294), on-base percentage (.392), runs scored (210), RBIs (193), doubles (55) and walks (138). UCLA scored seven runs a game and averaged just under 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 133 of the 169 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 36-19 record. This is the best regular season record for the Bruins since the 2015 season when they were 42-14, becoming the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament and also the 2013 season with a record of 39-17, the year the Bruins won its first-ever NCAA championship.
NCAA Rankings
Heading into postseason play, the Bruins are ranked top-25 nationally in a number of categories:
- ERA (3rd, 2.94), Fielding Percentage (4th, .982), Sacrifice Flies (4th, 38), WHIP (8th, 1.20), Walks Allowed Per Nine Innings (18th, 3.03) On-Base Percentage (24th, 0.394) and Hits Allowed Per Nine Innings (24th, 7.76).
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, innings pitched, 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 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 third in innings pitched, while Ryan Garica leads the conference in opposing batting average and is third 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 seventh with six saves.
In The Polls
UCLA finished the regular season inside the top-25 in the national polls as Baseball America has the Bruins at No. 20 and D1Baseball has UCLA holding at No. 19 in the country. The ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll has the Bruins also at No. 19 in the country.
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 the Regional
Minnesota earns its first hosting bid since 2000 after winning both the Big Ten regular season and tournament titles finishing with an overall record of 41-13. The Gophers are batting over .300 as a team led by Terrin Vavra hitting .385 with a team-best 10 home runs and 55 RBIs. Gonzaga is the No. 3 seed and is coming off a 17-2 win in the WCC Championship game to earn a trip to the NCAA Tournament. The Zags as a staff hold a 2.96 ERA with starting pitcher Daniel Bies holding a 2.50 ERA and a 7-3 record to go along with 115 strikeouts. Canisius won the MAAC title over Monmouth, 11-0, to earn its third trip to postseason play since 2013. The Griffs are led by senior pitcher J.P. Stevenson, the 2018 MAAC Championship MVP and the 2018 MAAC Pitcher of the Year.
History against the Regional Opponents
The Bruins are 17-6 all-time against its Regional-opening opponent Gonzaga with the Bruins taking two out of three from the Zags last season at Jackie Robinson Stadium. UCLA improved its all-time record to 6-2 against Minnesota earlier this season after winning the final game of the DQ Classic Big Ten vs. Pac-12 Challenge, 6-1, over the Gophers at U.S. Bank Stadium. UCLA and Canisius have never played each other.
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
