The UCLA Bruins are the preseason number one team in the country heading into the 2026 college baseball season.
In 2025, the Bruins made their sixth trip to the College World Series. They finished with a 48-18 overall record and were 22-8 in Big Ten Conference play. UCLA also won a share of the 2025 Big Ten regular season title.
UCLA’s head coach, John Savage, talked about his team’s approach heading into the 2026 season. He highlighted pitching as something the Bruins needed to improve.
“Our approach is the same every year,” Savage stated. “After Omaha last year, it was clear that we needed to improve on the mound. We were not deep enough and we were not healthy enough. The inventory was not where we wanted it to be.”
After a win to begin the 2025 College World Series against Murray State, the Bruins gave up 16 combined runs in losses to the LSU Tigers and Arkansas Razorbacks. As Savage said, pitching was a factor in UCLA’s demise during their trip to Omaha last season.
The Bruins’ head coach also said that he feels like the Bruins look “significantly better” on the mound heading into 2026.
Savage Talks UCLA’s Star-Studded Returners
The group of juniors at UCLA is a loaded group of players. This includes talented returners such as Roch Cholowsky, Roman Martin, and Mulivai Levu. Savage talked about this great position player unit that the Bruins have.
“Our true strength is position players,” Savage said.
Cholowsky, Martin, and Levu were three out of five UCLA players who received first-team and second-team All-Big Ten nominations.
Savage on Roch Cholowsky Heading into 2026
Savage talked about Cholowsky, who is heading into 2026 as one of the best players in all of college baseball.
In 2025, he had a .353 batting average, a .480 on-base percentage, 19 doubles, 23 home runs, and 74 RBIs.
Cholowsky is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year and the 2025 Brooks Wallace Award winner, which goes to college baseball’s best shortstop. He also made the 2026 Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list.
“Roch [Cholowsky] is a very good team player,” Savage said. “He is a great team captain who is fully invested in the program.”
Savage also talked about how Cholowsky has handled pressure from possibly being the number one overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft.
“I think he is handling it very well,” the UCLA head coach said. “There have been people out at our practices. It isn’t unusual for us, but it is a lot of attention. We just make sure he is grounded and focused on the right things, so his preparation is at a high level.”
Up Next for the UCLA Bruins
The UCLA Bruins will begin the 2026 college baseball season on February 13 against the UC San Diego Tritons.
The game is at UCLA’s home ballpark, Jackie Robinson Stadium. The first pitch is at 8 p.m. EST.
WBN NCAA: https://worldbaseball.com/league/ncaa/
PHOTO: UCLA coach John Savage eyes the ball during NCAA college baseball practice at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Neb. A new rule intended to help speed up the game also could thwart attempts to steal signs in college baseball. The NCAA will allow a pitcher to wear a wristband with a signal card when the season opens Friday, Feb. 14, 2020, allowing him and the catcher to look into the dugout to get pitch calls and eliminating the need for the catcher to relay the call with hand signs. (AP Photo/Eric Francis)
