This post was updated Aug. 6 at 1:32 a.m.

A UCLA baseball coach was disciplined for slapping a player, according to a university report obtained by the Daily Bruin.

David Berg, formerly an assistant coach of UCLA baseball, was placed on investigative leave for striking a player in the face after a dinner with the team’s recruits Oct. 27, 2023, according to 102 pages of documents obtained by The Bruin. Berg was disciplined with a fine of $10,000, a one-month suspension from working with the team in any capacity for the month of January and a suspension for the first seven games held in February.

Berg is no longer employed by UCLA Athletics.

According to a statement Berg gave investigators, the incident happened after a disagreement over seating at a recruitment dinner – with Berg wanting to sit next to a recruit – and in the car ride back to campus. Although Berg did not deny striking the student, he disputed the amount of force that he used and added that he believed he had a close relationship with the student.

“My intention was to give him a love tap on the cheek,” Berg told Hamilton Lee – an investigator from campus Human Resources. “I saw him as a little brother, I understand why from his end it felt like I had something against him. He had been responding positively to hard coaching.”

However, the player who was slapped – whose name was redacted from the report – told the investigator that he was slapped firmly, and even if the action was intended as a joke, he did not believe the coach should have touched his face. The player added that he was “shocked,” “flustered” and “angry” after the incident.

John Savage, the team’s head coach, told investigators that he did not witness the incident. He also told investigators that although he believed the slap’s intentions to be playful, he did not see touching players as in line with the program’s values.

Although the player also told the investigator that Berg had previously struck members of the team in the locker room, the investigation did not rule on those claims. The player who was slapped Oct. 27 also said he did not want to see Berg severely punished.

“I’m trying to move past it, I think he’s a good coach, I just don’t want it to linger,” the player told the investigator. “I think he just made a mistake and he can just learn from that.”

Berg was a member of UCLA baseball from 2012 to 2015, notably collecting the final out in UCLA’s 2013 national championship victory – the program’s only title. The two-time Pac-12 Conference Pitcher of the Year and NCBWA Stopper of the Year holds school records in single season saves, ERA and appearances – holding the NCAA record in the latter as well.

Although he was drafted by the MLB’s Chicago Cubs in 2015, he never played a game in the major leagues. Berg then returned to UCLA as an undergraduate assistant coach in 2019 and was promoted to assistant coach in August 2023 with a base salary of $60,000.

Savage also said prior to the investigation, he called the player to try and resolve the issue himself.

However, once a now-former student-athlete reported the slap, Lee found that Berg had violated several university policies, including ones relating to abusive contact and physical violence. Lee also stated that Berg’s slap impacted the student-athlete’s ability to engage in team activities.

“Although Respondent’s slap was a singular incident, the act of physically striking a student-athlete was egregious enough to constitute Abusive Conduct,” Lee wrote in the report.

The investigation, as with many at UCLA, used an evidentiary standard of preponderance, meaning the totality of evidence must convey that the act was more likely than not to have happened.

“We can confirm that a thorough campus-run investigation was conducted prior to the start of last season,” a UCLA Athletics spokesperson said. “Disciplinary action was taken, and campus protocols were followed.”

Both Berg and Savage did not respond in time to requests for comment from the Daily Bruin. Several UCLA baseball players also did not respond to requests for comment.

Although Rashad Ruff, a former graduate student right-hander on the team, declined to participate in an interview about the allegations against Berg, he said in a written statement that he admires the work the former coach did.

“Coach Berg is a great pitching coach,” he said in the statement. “He is an important part of our baseball program.”

In a letter sent Jan. 11, UCLA athletic director Martin Jarmond outlined the consequences Berg would face and stressed the importance of student-athlete safety.

“Student-athlete safety, including physical and mental wellbeing are vital to our mission and values,” he said. “You are required to review and adhere to each of the aforementioned policies at all times.”

Contributing reports by Joseph Crosby and Benjamin Royer, Daily Bruin senior staff.