Baseball
Jack Clarke, Daily Bruin contributor

Despite winning five in a row, nine of their last 10 and finding themselves perched atop the Big Ten standings, the Bruins remain unranked by D1Baseball, Baseball America and the USA Today Sports baseball coaches poll.

But coach John Savage, doesn’t seem to mind. If anything, he’s embraced it.

“The good news is nobody’s talking about us, and I like that,” Savage said. “We had two bad years, and they kind of throw you into the other group. That’s fine because we got to rebuild our deal, and we’re in the early stages of that.”

After finishing last season at 19-33, UCLA baseball (16-4, 5-1 Big Ten) will have a chance at matching its 2024 win total if it can sweep Indiana (12-9, 4-2) in its upcoming three-game weekend series, beginning Friday and carrying on through Sunday. The Hoosiers, who’ve also won five in a row, have not faced the Bruins since 1969, making the series their first at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

UCLA most recently swept Nebraska in last weekend’s three-game set. The Bruins went yard six times against the Cornhuskers – including sophomore shortstop Roch Cholowsky’s seventh of the season, tying him with sophomore first baseman Mulivai Levu for the team lead. The Bruins’ everyday corner infielders have already matched their combined home run total from last season and rank first and second, respectively, on the team in OPS. UCLA has won all five of its weekend series – it won just five in all of 2024.

“Everyone went through it last year, and everyone wasn’t too happy about it,” Cholowsky said. “Taking the initiative to really turn it around has taken a group effort.”

In a season-best outing last week against the Huskers, Friday night starter and junior right-hander Cody Delvecchio tossed five scoreless frames, punching out five on 92 pitches. Further helping right the ship in 2025 is UCLA’s bullpen, which surrendered just four runs across 13 innings against Nebraska, striking out 14.

The Hoosiers were picked to finish third in the Big Ten in the conference’s preseason coaches’ poll – one spot ahead of the Bruins. Offensively, Indiana is led by left fielder Devin Taylor, a projected first-round pick in the 2025 MLB Draft Slashing .384/.505/.733 across 86 at-bats, Taylor is one of four qualified Hoosiers with an OPS above 1.000. On the bump, right-hander Cole Gilley boasts the seventh-best ERA in the Big Ten, the third-best WHIP and 11th-most strikeouts at 2.49, 0.83 and 27, respectively.

The series is set to get underway at 6 p.m. Friday.

“More than anything we just like our makeup,” Savage said. “They love to practice. They love being together, and I think that unity has a chance to really grow moving forward”

Women’s tennis
Lori Garavartanian, Daily Bruin contributor

The Bruins have not had a losing record in 391 days.

But that streak lies in jeopardy.

At one game above .500, No. 24 UCLA women’s tennis (6-5, 1-1 Big Ten) will play its first Big Ten matches at the Los Angeles Tennis Center over the weekend, facing No. 5 Michigan (11-3, 4-0) on Saturday before battling Michigan State (10-5, 2-2) on Sunday.

UCLA is 2-0 against Michigan all time, last defeating it 4-0 in the 2013 NCAA women’s tennis championship’s round of 16. However, the Bruins are 1-3 against top-25 opponents this season – and the Wolverines will be their highest-ranked opponent yet.

“They’re (this season’s opponents are) making us uncomfortable,” said coach Stella Sampras Webster. “Our players just need to get a little more variety in their game.”

Michigan is on a five-match winning streak and is undefeated to open Big Ten play. But all three of the Wolverines’ losses this season have come away from Ann Arbor, Michigan. Home matches have long been a strength for UCLA – who’s undefeated in Westwood since March 2023.

The Wolverines feature five ranked singles players and three ranked doubles tandems – headlined by Julia Fliegner, the nation’s No. 3 singles player. The Bruins, however, aren’t far behind, boasting four ranked singles players and two ranked tandems.

“We’re ready to go and ready to boost each other up the whole time and give it our all,” said freshman Olivia Center. “It’s something that has been improving, and we’re going to keep working on it as the season goes on.”

Meanwhile, UCLA has never faced Michigan State, which features neither a ranked singles nor doubles player.

Currently towards the bottom of the Big Ten standings, victories this weekend could propel the Bruins well within the conference’s top 12 – where they’ll need to end the season if they hope to qualify for the Big Ten Women’s Tennis Tournament.

“We’re not far off,” coach Sampras Webster said. “We’re just going through some growing pains right now. At any moment we could turn this around and make a run.”

Men’s tennis
Lamar Tuker, Daily Bruin staff

Weather wiped out the Bruins’ crosstown duel Friday.

But this week, they head where the rain can’t get to them – indoors.

UCLA men’s tennis (4-6, 2-0 Big Ten) will head to the Midwest for the first time since February 2020, dueling No. 23 Illinois (9-5, 3-1) on Friday at the Atkins Tennis Center in Urbana, Illinois, and Northwestern (10-8, 3-1) on Sunday at Combe Tennis Center in Evanston, Illinois.

“We were all ready to play against USC. It was unfortunate that it rained out, but we’re all really excited to start playing this Friday,” said No. 75 redshirt sophomore Emon van Loben Sels. “We’re all going to be preparing as much as possible to be ready for this big match against Illinois.”

UCLA opened its inaugural Big Ten campaign with back-to-back 7-0 sweeps of Indiana and Purdue March 7 and March 9, respectively, in Westwood.

Freshmen Kaylan Bigun and Rudy Quan continue to impress as of late, with the former named Big Ten Freshman of the Week March 12 and the latter moving to a career-best No. 29 in the ITA’s men’s singles rankings Tuesday

“I’d say we’ve been resilient. We’ve had a lot of very close, tough losses against top teams, and (the) Purdue and Indiana weekend was a good start for us,” van Loben Sels said. “We’re ready to have a good round of Big Ten.”

Illinois has defended its home, holding a 5-0 record in Urbana, Illinois. Meanwhile, UCLA has played just one match on enemy territory, defeating UC Irvine at Anteater Tennis Stadium to open the 2025 campaign.

Coach Billy Martin said he’s hoping No. 17 sophomore Spencer Johnson, who hasn’t played since Feb. 2 due to injury, will be back on the court soon, while junior Gianluca Ballota was seen on a crutch at David X. Marks Tennis Stadium before UCLA’s Friday match against USC was postponed.

The Fighting Illini feature a pair of ranked singles players in No. 16 Kenta Miyoshi, a 2024 All-American like Johnson, and No. 62 William Mroz. However, the Wildcats boast neither a ranked singles player nor doubles tandem.

“We know what’s ahead of us,” Martin said. “So, I don’t think in any way it’s (the match) something that’s going to be surprising to us or something that we’re not prepared for.