The Bruins gave UCLA Baseball fans a small glimpse at what the team will look like for the 2026 Season in a full game scrimmage against UC Irvine, and sets high expectations for the Bruins when the season starts in February.
The first half of the scrimmage was essentially a pitcher’s duel—both the Bruins and the Anteaters struggled to put the ball in play. The Bruins’ pitching staff stood out in this regard, heavily relying on fastballs and changeups to generate effective swings and misses and ground balls that allowed the defense to shine.
The latter half of the scrimmage can only be described as an offensive explosion, for both the Anteaters and the Bruins.
It was the bottom of the 5th inning where UCLA’s bats started to erupt, resulting in a 3-run inning due to the efforts of Roman Martin, Will Gasparino and Dominic Cadiz, capitalizing on the runners in scoring position on 2nd and 3rd base. This was the first time the entire game that the Bruins had runners in scoring position. Martin drew a walk to load the bases, Gasparino drew an RBI walk to score a run and then Cadiz capitalized further on the opportunity by knocking a 2-run single. All of this offensive action happened when there were two outs in the bottom of the 5th, highlighting the Bruins’ ability to hit in important situations.
In the top of the 7th, the Anteaters mirrored some of the success that the Bruins had two innings prior. The Anteaters loaded the bases, and then UCI’s infielder Zach Fjelstad drew a walk to put UCI on the board and cut the lead to two.
The Bruins responded right back in the bottom of the 7th inning, with a rally starting with a base hit from Cashel Dugger, followed by an extra-base-hit double by Aiden Aguayo and topped off by a 2-RBI knock to left field by shortstop Roch Cholowsky. Cholowsky attempted to turn his hit into extra bases, but was thrown out at second base by the Anteaters’ left fielder.
The Anteaters responded to the Bruins’ rally with a 2-run home run in the bottom of the 7th, although the Bruins defense was able to limit the damage with a slick play at shortstop by Cholowsky.
In the bottom of the 8th, the Bruins further extended their lead with an RBI double by outfielder Jarrod Hocking, a triple by Dean West and capped off with an RBI triple by Cholowsky.
The Bruins emerged victorious in their first scrimmage before the regular season, beating the Anteaters with a final score of 7-3.
The scrimmage had standout performances from West and Cholowsky, who will almost certainly continue to contribute to the Bruins lineup throughout the season.
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Featured Image Photographed by Luana Caravalho/BruinLife
