UCLA BASEball UCLA Sports Information u J.D. Morgan Center u 325 Westwood Plaza u Los Angeles, CA 90095 Baseball SID: Alex Timiraos u [email protected] u (310) 206-4008 u (310) 825-8664 FAX RETURNING LEADERS (2008 STATS) NO. 12 UCLA OPENS 2009 campaign vERSUS UC DAvIS BATTER GP/GS AVG AB H HR RBI Bruins to play season’s first three games against Aggies at Jackie Robinson Stadium Casey Haerther 58/56 .324 238 77 12 52 Niko Gallego 19/11 .317 41 13 0 4 LOS ANGELES – UCLA begins the 2009 baseball UC Davis Aggies (0-0) Justin Uribe 16/15 .283 53 22 0 8 season with a three-game series at home against UC at Blair Dunlap 44/34 .250 132 33 2 16 Davis, a 2008 Palo Alto Regional competitor. Friday’s No. 12 UCLA Bruins (0-0) PITCHER GP/GS ERA W-L IP SO season-opening contest marks the first-ever baseball at UCLA’s Jackie Robinson Stadium Matt Grace 17/3 3.55 0-0 33.0 18 game between UCLA and UC Davis. The Aggies baseball Jason Novak 20/0 3.60 1-1 35.0 28 program joined the Division I ranks as a member of the Friday, Feb. 20, 6 p.m. (2008 stats) Brendan Lafferty 33/0 3.74 4-3 67.1 56 Big West Conference at the start of the 2008 season. UC Davis – Jeremy McChesney, RHP, Sr. (2-2, 4.10) Garett Claypool 15/6 4.13 1-2 32.2 24 UCLA and UC Davis both ended their respective 2008 UCLA – Rob Rasmussen, LHP, So. (0-2, 5.60) 2009 SCHEDULE seasons in NCAA Regional competition. UCLA went Saturday, Feb. 21, 2 p.m. 2/20 UC Davis 6 p.m. 33-27 after advancing to the Fullerton Regional Final, UC Davis – Andy Suiter, LHP, Jr. (6-2, 4.61) 2/21 UC Davis 2 p.m. and UC Davis posted a 35-24 record after going 1-2 UCLA – Gerrit Cole, RHP, Fr. (collegiate debut) at the Palo Alto Regional last spring. 2/22 UC Davis 1 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22, 1 p.m. 2/24 at UC Santa Barbara 2 p.m. SERIES VS. UC DAVIS: First meeting UC Davis – Tom Briner, RHP, So. (1-1, 7.15) 2/25 UC Riverside 6 p.m. CURRENT SERIES STREAK: First meeting UCLA – Charles Brewer, RHP, Jr. (9-4, 5.10) 2/27 vs. Rice^ (Houston, TX) 5 p.m. 2/28 vs. Baylor^ (Houston, TX) 1:30 p.m. 3/1 vs. UC Irvine^ (Houston, TX) 9 a.m. WELCOME BACK 3/3 Pepperdine 6 p.m. UCLA returns 26 players (22 letterwinners) back from its 2008 roster. The Bruins welcome back 13 of 14 3/4 Keio University (Japan, exhibition) 5 p.m. pitchers from last spring – left-hander and 2008 staff ace Tim Murphy signed with the Texas Rangers 3/6 at Oklahoma 1 p.m. last summer after being drafteed in the third round of the Major League Draft. Junior Casey Haerther 3/7 at Oklahoma 10 a.m. 3/8 at Oklahoma 11 a.m. is the lone returning starter on the field. Haerther played in 58 games last season, making 56 starts 3/10 UC Santa Barbara 6 p.m. at first base, and could compete for playing time at both first and third base. UCLA returns seven of nine 3/11 San Diego State 6 p.m. outfielders from one year ago, and all three projected starters have played considerably for two full seasons. 3/13 at East Carolina 2 p.m. 3/14 at East Carolina 11 a.m. OPENING NIGHT 3/15 at East Carolina 10 a.m. Under fifth-year head coach John Savage, UCLA baseball has recorded a 3-1 record in season-opening games. 3/21 at USC* 2 p.m. Last spring, Gabe Cohen belted a two-run walk-off homer in the ninth inning, handing the Bruins a 7-5 victory 3/22 at USC* 2 p.m. over Oklahoma in the first game of a Saturday doubleheader (Feb. 23). This season, UCLA turns to sophomore 3/23 at USC* 6 p.m. left-hander Rob Rasmussen, slated to make his first career Opening Day start. Last spring, Rasmussen went 3/25 at Pepperdine 3 p.m. 0-2 with a 5.60 ERA in nine games (two starts). The native of Arcadia, Calif., missed nearly 10 weeks of the 3/27 Arizona* 6 p.m. season after breaking his left foot on a line-drive comebacker in his collegiate debut (Feb. 27). 3/28 Arizona* 2 p.m. 3/29 Arizona* 1 p.m. STAFF SUMMARY 4/1 Loyola Marymount 6 p.m. The Bruins’ pitching staff inherits 13 returners from 2008 and welcomes three freshmen (all right-handed). 4/3 at Washington State* 5:30 p.m. The staff features 10 right-handers and six left-handers and breakdown of five freshmen (two redshirt), three 4/4 at Washington State* 2 p.m. sophomores, six juniors (one redshirt) and two seniors (one redshirt). The team’s 11 returning pitchers which 4/5 at Washington State* 1 p.m. 4/7 UC Irvine 6 p.m. have thrown in a regular-season game have registered a combined 741.2 innings, compiling a combined 41- 4/9 at Stanford* 5:30 p.m. 33 record, 4.89 ERA, 556 strikeouts and 326 walks. 4/10 at Stanford* 5:30 p.m. 4/11 at Stanford* 1 p.m. RUNNING THE OPTION 4/14 at San Diego State 6 p.m. UCLA’s infield, still in flux, will feature several new faces in 2009 and offers the ballclub several intriguing options. 4/17 Washington* 6 p.m. The Bruins may move junior first baseman Casey Haerther to third base (served as DH in 2007, first baseman 4/18 Washington* 2 p.m. in 2008). Along with Haerther, junior Alex Weber-Shapiro (two-year standout at Claremont McKenna) should 4/19 Washington* 1 p.m. compete for playing time at first base. Sophomore Niko Gallego, freshman Tyler Rahmatulla (Mater Dei HS), 4/21 at UC Riverside 6 p.m. senior Eddie Murray and freshman Chris Amezquita (Servite HS) are all competing for playing time around the 4/24 Oregon State* (TV – FSN) 6 p.m. infield. Gallego and Rahmatulla are the most likely candidates to play shortstop. 4/25 Oregon State* 2 p.m. 4/26 Oregon State* 1 p.m. OUTFIELD PATROL 4/28 Long Beach State 6 p.m. The Bruins’ seven outfielders have all been in UCLA’s program at least one season. Redshirt juniors Blair Dunlap 5/1 at Oregon* 3 p.m. and Dustin Quist are the unit’s eldest players, as each outfielder enrolled at UCLA in the fall of 2005. Dunlap 5/2 at Oregon* 1 p.m. enters 2009 as the leading candidate to start in center, a position in which he earned 29 starts in 2008. Junior 5/3 at Oregon* 1 p.m. 5/5 Cal State Bakersfield 6 p.m. Justin Uribe has logged 50 starts in the outfield and looks to assume the starting role in left. Junior Gabe Cohen 5/8 California* 6 p.m. has patrolled right field the past two seasons, collecting 85 outfield starts (all in right). Pushing for playing time, 5/9 California* 2 p.m. along with Quist, include sophomores Raul Duran and Brett Krill and redshirt freshman Marc Navarro. 5/10 California* 1 p.m. 5/12 Long Beach State 6 p.m. CATCHING UP 5/15 at Cal State Fullerton 7 p.m. Behind the plate, UCLA’s looks to freshman Steve Rodriguez (St. John Bosco HS) to serve as the team’s starting 5/16 Cal State Fullerton 6 p.m. catcher. One of the team’s more inexperienced groups, the catching unit features sophomore Chris Giovinazzo 5/17 Cal State Fullerton 1 p.m. and senior Gino Aielli in addition to Rodriguez. Rodriguez arrives in Westwood after having earned four varsity 5/19 at UC Irvine 6 p.m. baseball letters as the catcher for St. John Bosco. Giovinazzo played in 18 games as a freshman, including 13 5/22 at Arizona State* 6:30 p.m. starts in the outfield, but did not spend any time behind the plate. Aielli, who transferred to UCLA in the summer 5/23 at Arizona State* 6:30 p.m. of 2007 from Saddleback JC, should push for playing time behind the plate and around the infield. 5/24 at Arizona State* 1 p.m. 5/29-6/1 NCAA Regionals TBD SENIORITY 6/5-8 NCAA Super Regionals TBD The Bruins’ 2009 roster features five seniors – Gino Aielli, Cody Decker, Brendan Lafferty, Eddie Murray and 6/13-24 College World Series TBD Jason Novak. The most veteran of the bunch, Brendan Lafferty enrolled at UCLA in the fall of 2004 and is ^ Houston College Classic (at Minute Maid Park, Houston, TX) the lone remaining member of UCLA’s 2005 ballclub. Decker, Murray and Novak have been in the baseball * indicates Pac-10 Conference game program the past three seasons. Aielli enters his second season at UCLA after having played the 2006 and Rankings are from Baseball America’s weekly top-25 poll 2007 seasons at Saddleback Junior College (Santa Ana, Calif.). UCLA BASEBALL – STEELE FIELD AT JACKIE ROBINSON STADIUM – HOME OF THE BRUINS MEDIA INFORMATION FREQUENT FLYERS UCLA Sports Information Ranked No. 1 in strength of schedule by Boyd’s World, a nationally-respected ranking service, the 2009 UCLA J.D.