John Savage’s mantra has stayed the same throughout his 21-year tenure at the helm of UCLA baseball.

Pitching and defense wins championships.

But Sunday, junior right-hander Landon Stump allowed three runs in just 2.1 innings pitched – his shortest start since tossing just two-plus frames against No. 6 seed LSU in last year’s Men’s College World Series.

And one of those runs came when freshman second baseman Aiden Aguayo fumbled the transfer on a first-and-third double steal – letting the Horned Frogs crack the scoreboard with two outs.

Facing early instability on the mound and in the field, No. 1 UCLA baseball (6-1) took to the batters’ box to power its way past then-No. 7 TCU (2-5), completing the sweep 15-5 in a run-rule shortened, 8-inning contest at Jackie Robinson Stadium. The 3-0 series win held added significance for his junior class, Savage said, many of who were swept by then-No. 5 TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, as freshmen in 2024.

“It’s a result of having guys in your program for three years that get stronger every year,” Savage said. “We certainly have signs of damage.”

The coach added that he’s cautiously optimistic about the 2026 squad being one of his best – if not the best – power hitting teams.

However, it was a pair of newcomers who got the Bruins out in front.

Junior center fielder Will Gasparino hit his fifth long-ball of the year to give UCLA a 2-1 lead, and freshman infielder Dominic Cadiz notched his second hit of the year – his first collegiate home run – three pitches later.

Roch Cholowsky added a solo shot to dead center in the third, giving back the team lead in home runs to the junior shortstop with six. But Gasparino kept chase – his sixth home run of the year, a three-run shot, blew the game wide open in the sixth to 8-4.

After hitting in the six hole against UC San Diego, the center fielder first batted eighth Tuesday against Tulane – when he had his first multihomer performance as a Bruin. And batting in the eight hole the entire weekend, Gasparino hit three home runs and drove in nine.

“I’m the double cleanup hitter,” Gasparino said. “That’s how I think about it.”

Gasparino, a Harvard-Westlake graduate, added that, having played with many of his current teammates when he was as young as eight, made the transition back to a Southern California program easy despite playing his first two collegiate seasons at Texas.

UCLA’s six-run eighth inning went from hit parade to a getting-hit parade.

In his first at-bat of the season, redshirt sophomore outfielder Aidan Espinoza delivered a pinch-hit RBI single before junior left fielder Dean West was plunked to drive in the game-ending run.

West reached base three times in each of UCLA’s three games against TCU after reaching base just five times across his first four games.

Redshirt junior right fielder Payton Brennan ended his 0-for-17 skid with a single in the third, adding a pair of RBI walks in the sixth and eighth.

As the bats steadied the ship, the arms and gloves soon found their footing. Junior third baseman Roman Martin’s decision to go for the force out at second on a slow ground ball loaded the bases with the game tied in the third, but redshirt senior southpaw Ian May struck out his next two hitters to escape unscathed.

And a double play started by Martin helped the Bruins escape the eighth with what was then a four-run lead.

Freshman right-hander Elai Iwanaga made his first collegiate appearance in the fifth and retired the four hitters he faced, recording three strikeouts – all swinging.

“I felt really happy I was able to make my debut,” Iwanaga said. “These past six games, I’ve been getting ready in the bullpen and sat down, but being ready every game was the biggest thing for me.”

His five swing-and-misses were the most garnered by any UCLA pitcher Sunday, despite Iwanaga tossing fewer pitches than three of the four other Bruins who took the mound.

Stump, who induced just one swing and miss from his 42 pitches against the Horned Frogs, hasn’t recorded an out in the fifth inning since May 17 – six starts ago.

“We know Landon’s a capable guy, I just don’t necessarily have a great thumb on it right now,” Savage said. “There wasn’t any swing and miss, there wasn’t a lot of inner-half presence, and he just didn’t command things the way he normally does.”

Savage added that, with UCLA scheduled to play No. 4 Mississippi State on March 1, he is going to need better pitching Sunday – and every Sunday.

The coach also said freshmen right-handers Angel Cervantes and Zach Strickland – who will both pitch Tuesday as tandem starters against San Diego State – are on the table to take the final spot in the weekend rotation.