Friday, March 28
West Lafayette, IN
3:00 PM (PT)
UCLA
at
Purdue
Grant Gray
Photo by: Elijah Carr
No. 24 UCLA Travels to Purdue for Three-Game Series
March 27, 2025 | Baseball
LOS ANGELES - The No. 24 UCLA baseball team continues its Big Ten campaign with a three-game set at Purdue beginning Friday, March 28 at 3 p.m. PT (6 p.m. ET), continuing on Saturday, March 29 at 11 a.m. PT (2 p.m. ET), and concluding on Sunday, March 30 at 9 a.m. PT (12 p.m. ET). The games will be streamed on B1G+. Fans can also follow along with live stats (StatBroadcast) and X/Twitter updates (@UCLABaseball).
ย
SERIES INFORMATION
Location:ย West Lafayette, Ind.
Venue:ย Alexander Field
Stream:ย B1G+
Live Stats:ย ucla.statbroadcast.com
ย
THE RUNDOWNย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
LAST WEEK'S RECAPย ย ย ย ย ย
UCLA dropped the series opener on Friday night, but rallied to win the Saturday and Sunday contests to secure its sixth-straight series victory. Seven strong innings from Michael Barnett and AJ Salgado's two-run blast in the sixth propelled the Bruins to victory on Saturday afternoon. Fueled by three-hit performances from Roch Cholowsky and Mulivai Levu, along with a strong start from Landon Stump, UCLA took down Indiana 6-3 to claim the series victory.
In UCLA's midweek game, Cameron Kim provided the heroics in the bottom of the ninth, delivering a walk-off base hit to lift the Bruins over LMU, 9-8. UCLA jumped out to an early lead, but LMU clawed back, taking an 8-6 advantage in the seventh inning. The Bruins' bats came alive when it mattered most, scoring twice in the ninth to secure the walk-off victory.
ย
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday, March 28 - 3 p.m. PTย
UCLA - Jr. RHP Cody Delvecchio (0-3, 6.75 ERA)
PUR โ Sr. RHP Carter Doorn (4-1, 2.54 ERA)
ย
Saturday, March 29 - 11 a.m. PTย
UCLA - Jr. RHPย Michael Barnettย (6-0, 3.04 ERA)
PUR โ So. LHP Easton Storey (2-0, 3.62 ERA)
ย
Sunday, March 30 - 9 a.m. PTย
UCLA - TBA
PUR โ TBA
ย
ABOUT THE BOILERMAKERSย ย ย ย ย ย
Purdue recently suffered its first series defeat of the season, but boast a 20-4 overall record coming into this weekend. The Boilermakers are currently ranked 111 in RPI and have a strength of schedule of 277. The Purdue offense has a knack for reaching base at a high clip, ranking fifth in the nation with an on-base percentage of .449. As a team, the Boilermakers have been hit by 73 pitches which ranks second nationally.
ย
CARDIAC BRUINSย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
UCLA has scored first just eight times in its 24 games this season, racking up a total of 11 come-from-behind victories during its 19-5 start to the year. Remarkably, the Bruins have pulled off three comebacks after trailing by five or more runs. Notably, UCLA is undefeated when scoring first, posting a perfect 8-0 record.
ย
DEFENSIVE EXCELLENCEย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
UCLA has made significant strides defensively this season, boasting a fielding percentage of .981 over the first 24 games, which places them 13th nationally. This performance is particularly impressive considering the school's record-setting fielding percentage of .982 in 2018, which ranked third in the nation that year.
ย
BRILLIANT BARNETTย ย ย ย ย
Michael Barnett dazzled in his outing on Saturday afternoon, tossing seven innings without allowing an earned run to pick up his conference-best sixth win of the campaign. His seven-inning outing is the longest by any UCLA pitcher this season. The right hander racked up a career-high 10 strikeouts against an Indiana team averaging 9.5 runs-per-game prior to the weekend, which ranked 15th in the nation. He retired nine consecutive batters between the second and fourth innings. Barnett is one of five pitchers in the country with six or more wins.
ย
CLOSING IN ON HISTORYย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
Head Coach John Savage is on the brink of a significant milestone, needing just five more wins to surpass the 700-win mark at UCLA and 17 more to reach 800 career victories. With 695 wins at UCLA, he ranks second all-time, trailing only Gary Adams (1975-2004) who finished his career with 984 wins. Savage began his head coaching career at UC Irvine, where he notched 88 wins in his first three seasons, bringing his career total to 783. His winning percentage of .597 with the Bruins is the highest among UCLA coaches with over 100 games coached.
ย
QUITE THE INTRODUCTIONย ย ย ย ย ย ย
Sophomore Grant Gray received his first career start in UCLA's midweek matchup with LMU on Tuesday night, and he made the most of it, launching a two-run home run in what was his first career hit. Gray is a two-way athlete, as he also competes as a wide out for the UCLA football team.
ย
HE'S A ROCH STARย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
With the Bruins down to their final out and trailing by two runs on Friday night of UCLA's Big Ten debut series, Roch Cholowsky provided the biggest swing of the game, blasting a three-run home run to give UCLA the improbable lead.ย UCLA's shortstop has three go-ahead home runs on the year, as well as a pair of grand slams. Cholowsky has collected 27 RBIs through the first 24 games of the season, smacking seven home runs while slugging .691 on the year. His OPS of 1.209 ranks eighth in the Big Ten.
ย
READY TO ROCHย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
UCLA sophomore shortstop Roch Cholowsky was named to the Perfect Game Preseason All-Big Ten team. Cholowsky is coming off an impressive freshman campaign with a team-leading .308 batting average and eight homers. The Chandler Ariz. native received Second Team Freshman All-American acclaim (Perfect Game) and a Pac-12 Honorable Mention nod. Cholowksy was the lone Bruin to start all 52 games. He was red hot in the closing stages of 2024, slashing .391/.452/.766 with seven home runs and 18 RBIs over the final 16 games of the season. Recently, Cholowsky was named the No.9 shortstop in the country by D1Baseball.com.
ย
BRUINS PICKED TO FINISH FOURTH IN BIG TEN PRESEASON POLLย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
Big Ten Preseason Poll
1. Oregon
2. Nebraska
3. Indiana
4. UCLA
5. Michigan
6. USC
ย
FRIENDLY CONFINESย ย ย ย ย
With a sweep over Stanford in the final weekend of the 2024 regular season, UCLA clinched its ninth consecutive season with a winning record at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The Bruins have had a losing record at home just twice over the last 20 seasons, last occurring in 2014 (11-20).
ย
MIDWEEK NOTESย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCKย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
UCLA added 11 newcomers ahead of the 2025 season, including eight freshmen and three transfers. Coach Savage has bolstered his pitching staff with three pitchers joining via the transfer portal. Left-hander Ian May (California) will look to occupy a spot in the starting rotation after logging 20 starts and 90.0 total innings for the Golden Bears. Fellow southpaw Ryan Rissas (UC San Diego) helped lead the Tritons to their first-ever Big West title in 2023. August Souza (Santa Clara) brings 43 appearances worth of experience after spending a total of five seasons (including 2020 Covid-shortened season) at Santa Clara.
ย
ย
SERIES INFORMATION
Location:ย West Lafayette, Ind.
Venue:ย Alexander Field
Stream:ย B1G+
Live Stats:ย ucla.statbroadcast.com
ย
THE RUNDOWNย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
- UCLA cracked the D1Baseball top-25 for the first time since Feb. 19, 2024, slotting in at No. 24
- The Bruins are also ranked in the Baseball America poll at No. 25
- At 19-5, UCLA is off to its best start through 24 games since 2019
- UCLA made it six consecutive winning weekends after taking two of three games over Indiana
- UCLA has won 12 of its last 14 contests
- UCLA is 15-3 at Jackie Robinson Stadium this season
- Roch Cholowsky leads the team in hitting at .333, mashing seven home runs, collecting 27 RBI, and slugging .691
- Mulivai Levu ranks fourth in the Big Ten for RBIs with 32
- Levu leads the team with eight homers and is hitting .394 with 10 RBI and two homers over the last two weeks
- Michael Barnett was dominant on Saturday afternoon, earning his conference-best sixth win (7.0 IP, 0 ER, 10 K)
- Barnett ranks second in the nation with six wins this season
- UCLA secured its first-ever sweep in the Big Ten era by winning three straight games over Nebraska
- AJ Salgado's posted the first multi-homer game of his career with a pair of three-run bombs on March 15
- Cholowsky hit a grand slam in back-to-back games (Feb. 23 vs. MSU, Feb. 25 vs. Arizona State)
- Cholowsky was hit by a pitch three times on Tuesday, a first for UCLA in over a decade
- Against Michigan, UCLA scored 20 or more runs in a game for the first time since its 23-0 win over Omaha (2/18/23)
- Cholowsky's dramatic three-run homer gave UCLA the lead in the ninth inning on Friday night at Maryland
- UCLA ranks 13th in the nation defensively with a fielding percentage of .981
- Cholowsky launched a grand slam to spark UCLA's nine-run fourth inning in the comeback win over MSU
- UCLA drew 15 walks against BYU, its most in a game since Feb. 18, 2024
- UCLA enters its inaugural season in the Big Ten in 2025
- In 2023, the Bruins welcomed the top signing class in the country
- Roch Cholowsky returns for his sophomore season after receiving Freshman All-American acclaim (Perfect Game)
- The program has posted 15 winning records in 20 seasons under HC John Savage
- Duce Gourson, Cody Schrier, and Luke Jewett were selected in the 2024 MLB Draft
- The Bruins were picked to finish fourth in the Big Ten Preseason Poll
- Roch Cholowsky, Cody Delvecchio, and Dean West were named Big Ten Players to Watch
- UCLA is coming off a 19-33 campaign, snapping a streak of seven consecutive winning seasons
- Three transfer pitchers (Ian May - Cal, Ryan Rissas - UCSD, August Souza - Santa Clara) bolster UCLA's pitching staff
LAST WEEK'S RECAPย ย ย ย ย ย
UCLA dropped the series opener on Friday night, but rallied to win the Saturday and Sunday contests to secure its sixth-straight series victory. Seven strong innings from Michael Barnett and AJ Salgado's two-run blast in the sixth propelled the Bruins to victory on Saturday afternoon. Fueled by three-hit performances from Roch Cholowsky and Mulivai Levu, along with a strong start from Landon Stump, UCLA took down Indiana 6-3 to claim the series victory.
In UCLA's midweek game, Cameron Kim provided the heroics in the bottom of the ninth, delivering a walk-off base hit to lift the Bruins over LMU, 9-8. UCLA jumped out to an early lead, but LMU clawed back, taking an 8-6 advantage in the seventh inning. The Bruins' bats came alive when it mattered most, scoring twice in the ninth to secure the walk-off victory.
ย
PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS
Friday, March 28 - 3 p.m. PTย
UCLA - Jr. RHP Cody Delvecchio (0-3, 6.75 ERA)
PUR โ Sr. RHP Carter Doorn (4-1, 2.54 ERA)
ย
Saturday, March 29 - 11 a.m. PTย
UCLA - Jr. RHPย Michael Barnettย (6-0, 3.04 ERA)
PUR โ So. LHP Easton Storey (2-0, 3.62 ERA)
ย
Sunday, March 30 - 9 a.m. PTย
UCLA - TBA
PUR โ TBA
ย
ABOUT THE BOILERMAKERSย ย ย ย ย ย
Purdue recently suffered its first series defeat of the season, but boast a 20-4 overall record coming into this weekend. The Boilermakers are currently ranked 111 in RPI and have a strength of schedule of 277. The Purdue offense has a knack for reaching base at a high clip, ranking fifth in the nation with an on-base percentage of .449. As a team, the Boilermakers have been hit by 73 pitches which ranks second nationally.
ย
CARDIAC BRUINSย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
UCLA has scored first just eight times in its 24 games this season, racking up a total of 11 come-from-behind victories during its 19-5 start to the year. Remarkably, the Bruins have pulled off three comebacks after trailing by five or more runs. Notably, UCLA is undefeated when scoring first, posting a perfect 8-0 record.
ย
DEFENSIVE EXCELLENCEย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
UCLA has made significant strides defensively this season, boasting a fielding percentage of .981 over the first 24 games, which places them 13th nationally. This performance is particularly impressive considering the school's record-setting fielding percentage of .982 in 2018, which ranked third in the nation that year.
ย
BRILLIANT BARNETTย ย ย ย ย
Michael Barnett dazzled in his outing on Saturday afternoon, tossing seven innings without allowing an earned run to pick up his conference-best sixth win of the campaign. His seven-inning outing is the longest by any UCLA pitcher this season. The right hander racked up a career-high 10 strikeouts against an Indiana team averaging 9.5 runs-per-game prior to the weekend, which ranked 15th in the nation. He retired nine consecutive batters between the second and fourth innings. Barnett is one of five pitchers in the country with six or more wins.
ย
CLOSING IN ON HISTORYย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
Head Coach John Savage is on the brink of a significant milestone, needing just five more wins to surpass the 700-win mark at UCLA and 17 more to reach 800 career victories. With 695 wins at UCLA, he ranks second all-time, trailing only Gary Adams (1975-2004) who finished his career with 984 wins. Savage began his head coaching career at UC Irvine, where he notched 88 wins in his first three seasons, bringing his career total to 783. His winning percentage of .597 with the Bruins is the highest among UCLA coaches with over 100 games coached.
ย
QUITE THE INTRODUCTIONย ย ย ย ย ย ย
Sophomore Grant Gray received his first career start in UCLA's midweek matchup with LMU on Tuesday night, and he made the most of it, launching a two-run home run in what was his first career hit. Gray is a two-way athlete, as he also competes as a wide out for the UCLA football team.
ย
HE'S A ROCH STARย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
With the Bruins down to their final out and trailing by two runs on Friday night of UCLA's Big Ten debut series, Roch Cholowsky provided the biggest swing of the game, blasting a three-run home run to give UCLA the improbable lead.ย UCLA's shortstop has three go-ahead home runs on the year, as well as a pair of grand slams. Cholowsky has collected 27 RBIs through the first 24 games of the season, smacking seven home runs while slugging .691 on the year. His OPS of 1.209 ranks eighth in the Big Ten.
ย
READY TO ROCHย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
UCLA sophomore shortstop Roch Cholowsky was named to the Perfect Game Preseason All-Big Ten team. Cholowsky is coming off an impressive freshman campaign with a team-leading .308 batting average and eight homers. The Chandler Ariz. native received Second Team Freshman All-American acclaim (Perfect Game) and a Pac-12 Honorable Mention nod. Cholowksy was the lone Bruin to start all 52 games. He was red hot in the closing stages of 2024, slashing .391/.452/.766 with seven home runs and 18 RBIs over the final 16 games of the season. Recently, Cholowsky was named the No.9 shortstop in the country by D1Baseball.com.
ย
BRUINS PICKED TO FINISH FOURTH IN BIG TEN PRESEASON POLLย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
Big Ten Preseason Poll
1. Oregon
2. Nebraska
3. Indiana
4. UCLA
5. Michigan
6. USC
ย
FRIENDLY CONFINESย ย ย ย ย
With a sweep over Stanford in the final weekend of the 2024 regular season, UCLA clinched its ninth consecutive season with a winning record at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The Bruins have had a losing record at home just twice over the last 20 seasons, last occurring in 2014 (11-20).
ย
MIDWEEK NOTESย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
- UCLA is 43-18 in midweek contests since the start of 2019
- The Bruins are 5-1 in midweek games this season and are undefeated on Tuesdays (5-0)
- Payton Brennan is slashing .538/600/.846 with a home run during midweek competition
- UCLA has out-scored its opponents 65-27 during midweek games in 2025
- UCLA went 5-6 in 2024 in midweeks, defeating Nevada, LBSU, and UCSB at home, and LMU and Pepperdine away
- AJ Salgado (.357 BA, .438 OBP), Payton Brennan (.357/.438/.536), Duce Gourson (.333/.481/.615, 3 HRs), Roch Cholowsky (.326/.415/.630, 4 HRs, 11 RBIs), Roman Martin (.294/.333/.706), and Cody Delvecchio (2.70 ERA in 6.2 IP) were all standouts in midweek competition in 2024.
- The Bruins went undefeated in midweeks in 2019 (11-0) and 2021 (8-0)
- UCLA won seven straight midweeks from Mar. 1 to Apr. 19, 2022
NEW KIDS ON THE BLOCKย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย ย
UCLA added 11 newcomers ahead of the 2025 season, including eight freshmen and three transfers. Coach Savage has bolstered his pitching staff with three pitchers joining via the transfer portal. Left-hander Ian May (California) will look to occupy a spot in the starting rotation after logging 20 starts and 90.0 total innings for the Golden Bears. Fellow southpaw Ryan Rissas (UC San Diego) helped lead the Tritons to their first-ever Big West title in 2023. August Souza (Santa Clara) brings 43 appearances worth of experience after spending a total of five seasons (including 2020 Covid-shortened season) at Santa Clara.
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