Baseball beats the LMU Lions, moves onto super regional for first time since 2013

This post was updated June 3 at 11:49 p.m.

For the first time since 2013, the Bruins are moving on to the super regionals.

Facing elimination for the third straight game, No. 1 seed UCLA baseball (51-9, 24-5 Pac-12) won Monday, defeating Loyola Marymount (34-25, 15-12 WCC) 6-3 to advance to next week’s super regionals.

“Our team, it’s been resilient all season,” said coach John Savage. “It’s been a very consistent team so we’re very happy to come out of the losers bracket, (which) is not an easy thing to do these days.”

On the first night of the MLB Draft, juniors first baseman Michael Toglia, right-hander Ryan Garcia and second baseman Chase Strumpf were all selected while the Bruins were out on the field.

Just a few minutes after he was drafted 64th overall by the Cubs, Strumpf hit a three-run home run well over the left field fence, giving the Bruins a 6-2 lead. It was his second home run of the Regional and first time hitting homers in consecutive games this season.

“My dad maybe should not have came into the dugout and said that (I was drafted),” Strumpf said. “But in the moment, I was just (kind of) caught up in the game and caught up in the home run.”

Garcia came on in the seventh inning to pitch two scoreless innings in his first relief appearance since March 9. He tossed 112 pitched in 8 1/3 innings Friday night against Omaha and 24 more pitches Monday less than an hour after going 50th overall to the Texas Rangers.

LMU came out the gates scoring in the first inning when junior right-hander Felix Rubi walked leadoff batter Nick Sogard. With a 2-2 count, left fielder Kenny Oyama smacked a ground ball mishandled by junior first baseman Michael Toglia, putting runners on second and third with none out. Third baseman Brandon Shearer’s RBI sacrifice fly to center field scored the opening run of the game for the Lions.

The very next at-bat, another hard ground ball to the right side led to another error by Toglia and LMU’s second run.

This was the first time all season Toglia had recorded multiple errors in a game, with his last error coming against Washington on May 17.

The Bruins came right back in the first as junior shortstop Ryan Kreidler singled back up the middle and junior second baseman Chase Strumpf launched a line drive off the base of the center field wall, putting runners on second and third for senior designated hitter Jake Pries.

Pries hit an RBI sacrifice fly to right that scored Kreidler, while Strumpf tagged up from second to third. The throw from right field was cut off in the infield, and an error by the Lions to try and gun down Strumpf at third sailed into foul territory, allowing the Bruins to score and tie the game at two.

“We’ve actually had our backs against the wall a few times this year,” Kreidler said. “One of the first road (games) at Georgia Tech, we lose Friday night on a walk-off homer and then came back to win Saturday and Sunday. So I think that resiliency, like (Savage) said, has (kind of) been a theme of our team this year.”

LMU looked to break the tie in the second, reeling off back-to-back singles to start the inning. A fielder’s choice at second would put runners on the corners for the Lions and ending Rubi’s start. Sophomore right-hander Michael Townsend came in relief to replace Rubi and walked the first batter he faced, loading the bases.

Townsend was able to pitch out a jam when a hard-hit ground ball to Strumpf led to an inning ending double play.

“I thought our bullpen was exceptional,” Savage said. “We started the game today, really, with a bullpen guy. Townsend picked us up and Garcia obviously did a really good job.”

Rubi finished his second career collegiate start with 47 pitches over 1 1/3 innings pitched and two unearned runs allowed.

The Bruins took their first lead of the game in the third when Kreidler legged out a double that froze the shortstop as it rolled into left field. Kreidler would advance to third when Pries reached on a infield single that pulled first baseman Steven Chavez’s foot off the bag. An RBI-sacrifice fly by Toglia scored Kreidler, giving the Bruins a one-run lead.

UCLA padded its lead in the fourth as right fielder Jeremy Ydens started a two-out rally with a double off the left field wall. Kreidler joined Ydens on base with a hit-by-pitch and both were driven in on Strumpf’s homer.

“I think depth really is the key to this team,” Savage said. “Offensively we’re mature, we’re older a little bit, so it’s a combination of pitching and offense that makes this team a special team.”

LMU responded to UCLA’s three fourth-inning runs with a double by Shearer that fell just inside third base line and rolled into the left field corner. A routine ground ball by right fielder Trevin Esquerra went through the legs of Strumpf, scoring Shearer from second.

UCLA finished off the Lions in the ninth when sophomore right-hander Holden Powell had a 1-2-3 inning to clinch the victory.

“I think I’ll remember the game itself more (than the MLB Draft),” Strumpf said. “Looking back at freshman year, sophomore year and this year, we struggled getting out of the regional. Winning this game was huge.”

Sophomore center fielder Garrett Mitchell missed his first game this season due to illness. The Bruins’ leadoff man batted .294 with two triples and three RBIs in the regional.

Three Bruins selected during first night of 2019 MLB Draft

This post was updated June 3 at 9:26 p.m.

Three Bruins will have an MLB contract awaiting them when UCLA baseball’s season comes to a close.

Junior first baseman Michael Toglia was the lone Bruin to get drafted in the first round of the 2019 MLB Draft on Monday. Toglia was the first Bruin off the board – going No. 23 overall to the Colorado Rockies – while junior right-hander Ryan Garcia went No. 50 to the Texas Rangers and junior second baseman Chase Strumpf was selected by the Chicago Cubs with the No. 64 overall pick.

Strumpf was picked as he was stepping up to the plate in Game 7 of the Los Angeles Regional against LMU. Less than a minute later, he launched a line drive over the left field wall for a three-run homer.

After hitting .363 with 12 homers his sophomore year, Strumpf’s batting average dropped to .280 in 2019 and his on-base plus slugging percentage fell over 200 points to .886. The 6-foot, 1-inch second baseman was the No. 41 prospect on MLB.com.

Toglia saw his offensive numbers drop this season as well, but he was able to keep his average comfortably above .300 and hit a career-high 16 home runs, coming in at No. 40 in MLB.com’s predraft player rankings. Toglia was picked No. 1,040 overall by the Rockies in the 2016 MLB Draft, but he elected to honor his commitment to UCLA.

The Rockies picked right-hander Jake Bird in the fifth round of last year’s draft and three more Bruins in 2017.

UCLA commit Corbin Carroll was drafted No. 16 overall by the Arizona Diamondbacks. Like Carroll, now-freshman third baseman Matt McLain was a high schooler picked by the D-Backs in the first round of the 2018 Draft, but he elected to pass on the pro contract and come to Westwood regardless.

Carroll has not commented on the status of his commitment to UCLA.

Strumpf and Toglia were both preseason All-Americans, but junior right-hander Ryan Garcia was the lone Bruin to be named a First Team All-American by Collegiate Baseball. Garcia won Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year after posting a conference-low 1.39 ERA and perfect 10-0 record, but he is yet to be drafted.

Junior shortstop Ryan Kreidler, junior right fielder Jeremy Ydens – who was selected in both the 2016 and 2018 drafts – and 13 other Bruins are eligible to hear their names called over the next two days.

Kreidler went No. 1,064 to the Chicago Cubs in 2016, just 24 picks after Toglia. The shortstop/third baseman set career highs in nearly every offensive category as a junior – including a .303 batting average and .509 slugging percentage – but he is still on the board.

The Pac-12 accounted for 13 of the 78 selections Monday night, with Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman leading the way as the No. 1 overall pick.

Round three starts Tuesday at 10 a.m.

 

Softball one win away from national title after blowout Game 1 win over Oklahoma

This post was updated June 3 at 9:05 p.m.

The Bruins are one win away from a national title.

No. 2 seed UCLA softball (55-6, 20-4 Pac-12) defeated No. 1 seed Oklahoma (57-5, 18-0 Big 12) 16-3 in Game 1 of the Championship Final of the Women’s College World Series on Monday in Oklahoma City. The 16 runs are the most that the Sooners have given up since February 2009 and are tied for the most runs ever scored in any WCWS game.

Sooner pitcher Giselle Juarez had given up just two home runs in the previous four games of the WCWS, but surrendered one almost immediately to the Bruins, as redshirt sophomore right fielder Aaliyah Jordan took her deep in the top of the first inning to give UCLA the lead.

But Oklahoma evened the score in the bottom of the second inning with a home run of its own off the bat of the first baseman Shay Knighten – just the fourth home run that the Sooners have hit in Oklahoma City.

The Bruins responded in the next inning by taking advantage of errors by the Sooner defense to take a 3-1 lead.

Sophomore second baseman Kinsley Washington bunted for a single and advanced to second on the overthrow, scoring when freshman left fielder Kelli Godin reached second on another muffed throw. Junior center fielder Bubba Nickles singled in the next at bat, with Godin scoring when the left fielder made another fielding error.

“Every at-bat, I just wanted to use everything in my toolbox,” Washington said. “My slap game, bunt game, hitting away, definitely just keep the defense moving in and out, and just keeping them on their toes, because they’re a pretty good defensive team.”

UCLA added to its lead on an RBI double from Washington in the fourth inning and an RBI single from senior first baseman Taylor Pack in the fifth.

The Bruins drove three more home runs in the sixth inning, starting with one from senior third baseman Brianna Tautalafua. It was Tautalafua’s first hit of the postseason, having previously gone 0-for-26 going back into the postseason.

Sophomore shortstop Briana Perez followed, driving a three-run home run to center to score Washington and Nickles, who had walked and singled, respectively. The six-run rally ended after redshirt junior pitcher Rachel Garcia hit a two-run home run, bringing the lead up to 11-1.

The four home runs were the most for UCLA since April 6, when the team beat Arizona State 9-0.

“We were laughing, because in (batting practice) we didn’t feel in the best going into the game, but something clicked in the game,” Perez said.

The win was capped with five more runs in the seventh, the first two coming on an RBI double for sophomore outfielder Julie Rodriguez, her first hit of the postseason, and the next three on RBI singles from Nickles and Garcia.

“The thing that I’m most proud of is that every game … I say, let’s put ourselves in a position to let everybody play,” said coach Kelly Inouye-Perez. “The only way you do that is you gotta through enough punches to be able to give yourself that ability to take your starters out and let people play.”

Garcia started at pitcher for UCLA just one day after pitching 10 innings in the Bruins’ win over the Washington Huskies. Garcia gave up just the one home run in her five innings of work before freshman pitcher Megan Faraimo relieved her in the bottom of the sixth to clinch the victory.

UCLA had previously played Oklahoma in February, coming away with a 7-1 victory – one of just two losses the Sooners recorded in the regular season. With the 16 runs scored Monday, the Bruins also became the only team this season to score four or more runs against Oklahoma twice.

Game 2 of the championship series is set for Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

 

Bruin Tea: Which student government positions have the biggest stipends?

This post was updated July 23 at 10:30 a.m.

Quarter system got you down? Have you fallen and can’t get up? Bruin Tea is a series investigating student questions and petty concerns about UCLA.

Student governments on campus include the Undergraduate Students Association Council, the Graduate Students Association, the On-Campus Housing Council and Resident Government Council.

Other student representative positions are appointed to other campus bodies by USAC and GSA.

USAC officers receive about $10,000 per year, said USAC President Robert Watson. The amount varies throughout the year from $244 per week during the academic year to $84 per week during the summer.

USAC stipends are not allowed to exceed $960 per month and should be equivalent to working a 20-hour work week, according to the council’s financial bylaws.

GSA executive officers receive anywhere from $725 to $914 per month, said GSA President Zak Fisher in an email statement. This translates to $8,700 to $10,968 per year. Both USAC and GSA stipends come from student fees.

Both councils appoint members to other student representative positions such as the Associated Students UCLA board of directors or the Student Fee Advisory Committee.

ASUCLA board members receive stipends that total that year’s mandatory student fees applicable to each member, meaning undergraduate and graduate board members receive slightly different stipends, said Kevin Kato, an undergraduate ASUCLA board member in an email statement.

Mandatory student fees include tuition among other fees that apply to all undergraduate students and graduate students and are set forth by information on the UCLA Registrar’s Office website.

These fees do not include any fee that does not equally apply to all undergraduate or graduate students, such as course materials fees or professional school fees, according to the ASUCLA Board of Directors stipend policy.

Graduate students on SFAC, who are nominated by GSA and approved by UCLA administration, receive up to $1,000 per quarter.

The Hill government includes the On-Campus Hill Council and the Resident Government Councils. OCHC executive board members receive between $1,500 to $2,000 per quarter depending on their position, while RGC members receive between $400 to $500 per quarter, depending on their appointment date.

Watson said stipends for student representative positions are necessary considering the amount of responsibilities officers are expected to take on.

“We have actual jobs where we’re operating large amounts of funding bodies that are ultimately serving students,” Watson said. “We’re working on consistent programs that run year long. Some of our offices even run commissions that oversee dozens of student organizations.”

TL;DR: ASUCLA student representatives have the biggest stipends.

Video game antagonist brought to life by student robotics team

This post was updated June 3 at 9:28 a.m.

A student robotics team has been working since fall quarter on a robot that merges two of the group’s passions: interdisciplinary engineering and the video game The Legend of Zelda.

X1 Robotics, a club on campus created to provide a space for robot-building, is engineering a robot modeled after an antagonist in the video game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The robot is due to be completed by the end of spring quarter.

X1, part of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers at UCLA, was founded in 2015 to provide students with real-world experience in robotic engineering, said Michael Cui, a co-lead of the project and a fourth-year mechanical engineering student.

All members of the team have the opportunity at the beginning of fall quarter to pitch project ideas for the entire team to vote on, said John Tabakian, a second-year mechanical engineering student and the other co-lead of X1.

“This year, someone just came in and kind of as a joke was like, ‘Hey, I want to make something from a video game,’” Tabakian said. “And then we all kind of were like, ‘I know you’re joking, but this is kind of cool and we’re all into it.’”

The robot is modeled after a guardian, one of the main antagonists in Breath of the Wild. Guardians walk, fly or play dead in various locations in the game. When Link, the player character and protagonist, gets too close to a guardian, it comes to life, targets him with a red laser and attacks him with a bolt of energy.

The team hopes the robot will be able to identify a figurine of Link and attack the figurine by pointing a laser at it, said Kenneth Vuong, a member of X1 and first-year mechanical engineering student.

X1 Robotics, a student robotics group, is building a robot based on an enemy from the video game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Team members said they want the robot to be able to track and point a laser at a figurine of the game's protagonist. (Mia Kayser/Daily Bruin staff)
X1 Robotics, a student robotics group, is building a robot based on an enemy from the video game The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Team members said they want the robot to be able to track and point a laser at a figurine of the game’s protagonist.
(Mia Kayser/Daily Bruin staff)

The team currently has a functioning prototype, despite being about two weeks behind its original schedule, Tabakian said.

The robot is a hexapod, meaning it has six legs. This is one of the components that made it so challenging to engineer, Cui said. All three types of engineers on the team had to work together to make sure the legs functioned harmoniously and didn’t interfere with one another.

The robot also features a camera attached to a turret system, which allows the robot to track the Link figurine, he added.

The team also worked to make the robot’s movements as organic as its in-game counterpart, Tabakian said. He said the team aims to make the robot battery-powered, capable of functioning without external direction from a person and controllable through an online interface.

Vuong said he was excited about the video game-based project because he enjoys playing the game and was inspired by the prospect of working on a complicated robot.

“Most of us are nerds, there’s no sugarcoating it,” Tabakian said. “We realized that we have the chance to do something that’s really complicated in terms of the robotic system, and also something that we could all kind of be passionate about because we’ve all seen it in-game.”

Cui said he thinks X1 is analogous to real-world engineering work because its projects combine the skills of students in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering and computer science. He added he thinks not many clubs on campus let students work with people outside their own disciplines, and X1 gives them that chance.

The team chose the guardian from Breath of the Wild out of all other video game characters primarily because its complex physicality allows all three branches of the team to integrate their skills, Cui said.

Tabakian said X1 is a curiosity-driven organization that foremost aims to help its members learn new engineering skills.

“We have no competition that we compete in,” he said. “It’s just purely (that) we decide on a project every year and we kind of go from there.”

The lack of a competitive element also allows the team members to draw motivation from their eagerness to improve their skills and the joy they experience when working together, Vuong said.

“We don’t compete, so there’s no external driving force,” Vuong said. “I think because the team is so close, it’s so intimate. Because the team is so small, you really feel like you’re involved.”

The team is considering deconstructing the completed robot to use the parts for other projects next year, Tabakian said. He added team members have also suggested donating the robot to a children’s hospital or a research professor.

Jingbin Huang, member of X1 and a third-year electrical engineering student, said he thinks the club could also use the guardian robot to showcase X1’s work to other students and encourage them to join the club.

Regardless of what happens to the guardian robot when it’s complete, Cui, Tabakian, Vuong and Huang all said X1’s true accomplishment lies in the learning opportunities it offers to students.

“I just want to emphasize that X1 is a truly fantastic project that allows students to work on whatever they’re passionate about,” Cui said.

Anderson School of Management appoints new dean to start July 1

A UCLA professor was named the new dean of the Anderson School of Management, according to a university press release Friday.

Antonio Bernardo, a finance professor who has taught at UCLA for 25 years, will take over the position from the current interim dean Al Osborne on July 1. Bernardo currently holds the Joel Fried Chair in Applied Finance at Anderson and previously held the Robert D. Beyer Term Chair in Management.

Bernardo, who researches various areas of corporate finance, joined the finance faculty in 1994 and served as the department chair and senior associate dean for academic affairs from 2006 to 2009. He also served as finance area chair from 2013 to 2015, as well as in 2019.

Bernardo has also taught at Fudan University in Shanghai, China, and the India School of Business in Hyderabad, India, and was a visiting associate professor at the University of Chicago. He has also served as associate editor of the Review of Financial Studies, Journal of Financial Research, Critical Finance Review and Financial Management.

He received a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Western Ontario in 1989 and a doctorate in economics from Stanford University in 1994.

Email Shapero at jshapero@dailybruin.com or tweet @JuliaShapero.