39 collegiate starts are a sign of experience.

A first-round draft label is a sign of raw talent.

Both are critical in college baseball.

No. 1 UCLA baseball (5-1) defeated No. 7 TCU (2-4) 5-1 Saturday afternoon, capitalizing on performances from right-handers senior Michael Barnett and sophomore Wylan Moss.

After a breakout true freshman campaign, earning Big Ten All-Freshman honors with a 2.98 ERA, coach John Savage gave Moss a choice.

“I gave him the opportunity, ‘Do you want to start on Tuesdays, or would you rather piggyback on the weekends?’” Savage said. “He was pretty adamant about wanting to pitch on the weekends.”

Moss was nothing short of dominant in his second weekend appearance out of the bullpen. He pitched the game’s last four innings and struck out the final nine hitters he faced.

The right-hander reached 95 mph consistently, throwing 25 of his 28 fastballs for strikes – with 12 called strikes and six swing-and-misses. His bread-and-butter changeup was responsible for three strikeouts, as well as a critical double play in the sixth inning.

“When they were looking for the fastball, they got the change (changeup), and when they were looking for the change, they got the fastball,” Savage said. “He kept on repeating, making pitches. He was impressive. You don’t see a guy come out of the bullpen, go four innings and strike out ten against that sort of opponent.”

TCU’s lineup is loaded with future draft picks, but just like against junior right-hander Logan Reddemann Friday, it had no answer for Moss’ wipeout changeup or elevated fastballs.

Baseball America currently ranks Moss as the No. 13 best collegiate draft prospect in the class of 2027.

“Any role I need to be in, I’ll do it for the team,” Moss said. “I pitched in a lot of roles last year, so I’m really used to doing anything. I don’t mind coming out of the bullpen at all.”

Barnett started for UCLA and lasted five innings on the mound. Aside from right fielder Sawyer Strosnider’s – a projected 2026 first round draft pick – first-inning solo shot, Barnett held TCU scoreless.

“TCU has a very dangerous lineup,” Savage said. “Mike showed his experience. It’s 90-91 mph. In this world it’s not sexy by any means, but there’s a changeup, there’s a sweeper, there’s a cutter, and he just makes big pitches. We’re accustomed to that.”

Facing a gauntlet of left-handed sluggers, Barnett relied on the changeup – which induced seven swing-and-misses along with two critical fly outs. Savage turned the reins over to Moss when Strosnider came up for his third at-bat – already armed with a 4-1 lead.

Junior left fielder Dean West helped put UCLA on the board in the first inning, opening the bottom of the frame with a line-drive single into center field before quickly stealing second base. The Bruins had their first run of the game two ground balls later.

“I liked how Dean used the field today,” Savage said. “He hit the ball to the middle of the field. That’s the type of hitter he is. … He’s one of the best on-base guys in the country. He controls the strike zone as well as anybody in the country.”

Right-hander Lance Davis threw him the exact same pitch in his second at-bat, and West barreled the very same swing on it, lining another single into center field.

“They were both sliders,” West said. “I knew he’s a sinker/slider guy, so (I was) just trying to see (a pitch) up. I saw a slider up and then just took a good pass at it.”

Davis hung one final slider in the fourth inning, this time in a 0-2 count to Will Gasparino. The junior centerfielder blasted his fourth home run of the season to put UCLA ahead 4-1.

In the second inning, Gasparino also looped an RBI single over a drawn-in infield.

“We have a true centerfielder with power who can defend,” Savage said.

Freshman second baseman Aiden Aguayo tallied three hits, the second of which was a double off the left center field wall. He would later come around to score.

And UCLA still has a fully loaded bullpen headed into Sunday with a series win already secured.

“It saves the bullpen for a day,” Savage said. “We haven’t thrown (sophomore right-hander Easton) Hawk this weekend, we haven’t thrown (senior right-hander Jack) O’Connor, and we haven’t thrown (junior right-hander Jake) Swenson this weekend. That outing (from Moss) saves (us) a lot of pitches.”