While UCLA’s campus is no longer adorned with banners boasting the nation’s number one public university, a multitude of sports teams have found themselves at the top, with baseball garnering the most recent spot. For the first time since 2008, the Bruins are the preseason No.1 baseball team ahead of the 2026 campaign.
Headlined by junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky, the reigning Baseball America College Player of the Year and No.1 prospect of the 2026 MLB Draft, and a roster lush with returning talent and homegrown veterans, the Bruins are favorites for a run at the College World Series come June.
No.1 UCLA (2-1) took two of three games against UCSD (1-2) over Valentine’s Day weekend at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The Bruins took game one by a score of 8-4, fueled by walks, base hits with runners in scoring position and Triton errors. UCLA won the second game 7-2, this time through big flies and stable pitching. However, the Tritons stole game three after an 8-7 back-and-forth nail-biter.
GAME 1
| Baseball |
|---|
| UCSD — 4 |
| UCLA — 8 |
UCLA officially opened its season with an 8-4 victory on Friday night. Junior pitcher Logan Reddemann took the mound for his Bruin debut against UCSD starter pitcher Steele Murdock. Reddemann, a top transfer target following an excellent season at the University of San Diego, got off to a shaky start, allowing three runs in the first three innings.
It didn’t take long for UCLA to respond from the 3-0 hole. The top of the Bruin order all reached base courtesy of walks and an error, allowing junior third baseman Roman Martin to walk in the first run of the season. With the bases still loaded, redshirt junior right fielder Payton Brennan tied the game at 3-3 with a two-run single, driving in Cholowsky and junior first baseman Mulivai Levu.
The Bruins would blow the game open in the bottom of the fourth inning. Levu, hitting with the bases loaded, drove in the go-ahead run on an error for a 4-3 lead. Martin then walked in his second run of the night before Brennan roped a two-run double to right field, bringing him to four RBIs on the day. Junior catcher Cashel Dugger added an RBI single of his own for the Bruins’ fifth run of the inning, padding the lead to 8-3.
Meanwhile, Reddemann would settle in for two final scoreless innings, ending his debut with five innings pitched, three earned runs and six strikeouts. Redshirt senior reliever Ian May took the ball for 2.2 innings, earning four strikeouts and giving up a consolation run in the eighth inning. The Bruins took the season opener, with Reddemann earning the win and Triton reliever Jake Villar taking the loss.
GAME 2
| Baseball |
|---|
| UCSD — 2 |
| UCLA — 7 |
While the Bruins on Friday leaned on plate discipline and small-ball hitting for runs, the offense on Saturday afternoon reminded fans of this lineup’s power en route to a 7-2 win. Senior pitcher Michael Barnett, who spearheaded the Bruins’ rotation in 2025, faced off against the Tritons’ pitcher Nic Gregson.
Despite Barnett allowing a solo home run to first baseman Gabe Camacho in the top of the first inning, UCLA again struck back. In the bottom half of the inning, Cholowsky launched a solo bomb to left field for the first Bruin homer of the year, leveling the score at one apiece. UCLA would take a 2-1 lead an inning later, courtesy of a sacrifice fly from freshman second baseman Aiden Aguayo. The Bruins added another run in the fifth inning, as Martin’s groundout allowed Cholowsky to score from third base.
Barnett faced little issue after the first inning, completing five innings of one run ball with four strikeouts. Sophomore reliever Wylan Moss followed with 2.2 scoreless innings of work.
It took until the eighth inning for the Bruins to truly separate themselves, when Brennan launched his first dinger of the year. Two batters later, Dugger blasted a two-run shot to cap off an all-around day, which included three hits and a nifty defensive pickoff at third base from earlier in the game. A sacrifice fly from Cholowsky scored UCLA’s seventh run of the day, and fourth in the inning.
The ninth inning saw the debut of freshman pitcher Angel Cervantes, who was drafted 50th overall to the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 2025 MLB Draft, but turned down a contract to play in Westwood instead. Cervantes gave up one run amidst securing the win for UCLA.
GAME 3
| Baseball |
|---|
| UCSD — 8 |
| UCLA — 7 |
Sunday afternoon was unlike the earlier blowouts, as this tense contest finished in an 8-7 UCSD victory. With seven home runs in the game, and eight runs scored in the final two innings, there was no shortage of drama at Jackie Robinson Stadium in the series finale.
Junior pitcher Landon Stump was on the bump for UCLA, facing off against opener Austin Bowker. The Tritons scored first for the third game in a row when center fielder Michael Crossland went deep to left field in the third inning, but an RBI laser off the wall from Martin in the fourth inning tied it up at 1-1. Stump was chased during the fourth inning, but junior reliever Chris Grothues escaped a jam to preserve the tie.
The Tritons quickly retook the lead, knocking two runs off of Grothues in the fifth from Crossland’s second solo homer of the day and an RBI single from designated hitter Trevian Martinez. Punches were returned, however, as UCLA’s Aguayo tied the game at 3-3 with his first collegiate home run, a two-run shot to right field.
In the seventh inning, the Bruins took their first lead of the day thanks to Levu’s two-out RBI single, which lifted UCLA to a 4-3 advantage. The lead lasted half an inning, foreshadowed by junior reliever Cal Randall walking both of his batters. Ensuing sophomore reliever Easton Hawk then allowed a go-ahead three-run homer to Camacho, his second of the series.
The Bruins kept their poise in the bottom of the eighth, as a Brennan walk preceded junior center fielder Will Gasparino’s first home run for UCLA, which tied the game at 6-6.
The bombs just kept dropping in the ninth inning, as Hawk surrendered the lead for the second time on a two-run moonshot to right fielder Nick Costello. Trailing 8-6, Levu added a final twist in the bottom of the ninth, cutting the deficit in half with his first homer of the season, but a deep flyout from Martin ended the contest at 8-7.
UCLA will continue their homestand on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 1:00 p.m. PST against Tulane at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
