Two years ago, the Bruins were swept by the Horned Frogs in a three-game road series where they were outscored by a total of 23-9.
This time, UCLA’s offense surpassed its previous series total in just five innings while its pitching staff held TCU to just two runs.
To kick off its only regular-season weekend series against a currently-ranked opponent, No. 1 UCLA baseball (4-1) defeated No. 7 TCU (2-3) 10-2 on Friday night at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The Bruins took a five-run lead in the second inning and never let their opponents narrow the margin for the remainder of the contest, which was helped in part by the Horned Frogs going 0-8 with runners in scoring position.
Junior Logan Reddemann opened on the bump for the Bruins for his second collegiate career start against TCU. In his first appearance for University of San Diego last season, the right-handed pitcher tossed five innings and allowed three runs while striking out eight.
This time, the hurler was even better, tossing five innings of one-run baseball and striking out 10 – his single-game career high total.
“I used last year’s performance to game plan again this year,” Reddemann said. “That same game plan worked in our favor.”
Only senior right-hander Michael Barnett reached double-digit strikeouts in a game last season, and no Bruin hurler reached the mark during the 2023 season.
“We believe in roles,” said coach John Savage. “We’re still establishing that. We’re still not there, but Reddemann is clearly our Friday night guy, so he has established that.”
In the bottom of the second, junior center fielder Will Gasparino opened up the scoring with an RBI double down the right-field line, scoring freshman second baseman Aiden Aguayo.
After senior designated hitter Jarrod Hocking was hit by a pitch and junior left fielder Dean West singled, the Bruins had the bases loaded. Then came junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky, who smoked the first pitch he saw over the left-field fence for a grand slam – his fourth home run of the season. He hit his fifth – an opposite-field solo shot – just two innings later.
“I mean, it feels good,” Cholowsky said. “The best thing is the game plan the coaches have been giving us. I feel ultra-prepared going into the games – whether it’s a Friday or Tuesday – just from the work they’ve been putting in.”
When all three were freshmen in 2024, Cholowsky, junior first baseman Mulivai Levu and junior third baseman Roman Martin – UCLA’s current 2, 3 and 4 hitters – went a combined 4-for-19 in the series against TCU.
“I see a lot more pitches just because there’s a guy like that behind me,” Cholowsky said. “Then behind him is Roman, who’s also – I believe – one of the best hitters in the country.”
Last season, the trio combined for a .330 batting average and slugged 44 home runs.
Friday, they dominated the TCU pitching staff, going a combined eight-for-12 on the day, knocking in seven runs and reaching base a total of 12 times.
After Reddemann’s removal, the Horned Frog offense – whose only run off of Reddemann was a fourth inning solo shot – began to show some signs of life. In the seventh, it loaded the bases against redshirt senior southpaw Ian May and junior right-hander Cal Randall.
Though redshirt junior left-hander Chris Grothues coaxed a full-count 6-3 groundout to put out the rally, trouble would emerge once again in the top of the ninth, as sophomore right-hander CJ Bott would load the bases with no outs.
The hurler limited TCU to just a single run in the inning, preventing the inning from turning into a rally and finally shutting the door for UCLA.
“It’s a long weekend,” Savage said. “It’s one game. TCU is a really good program. It’s an Omaha program. They had a couple big wins at Globe Life (Field) last weekend.”
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