Iowa Baseball Big Ten Tournament Preview: #13 UCLA Bruins

The stakes have been raised. It’s win or go home and for the Iowa Baseball team, their season is on the line. After winning Pool C at the Big Ten Tournament, the Hawkeyes turn their focus a semifinal matchup against the 13-th ranked UCLA Bruins.

The Hawkeyes, with their loss to Indiana in the Pool C finale on Thursday night, have a 33-21-1 overall record, including a 21-9 mark in Big Ten play, which earned them one of the critical top four seeds in this tournament. In their opener in Omaha on Wednesday night, Cade Obermueller tossed 7.0 scoreless innings and Iowa held off a late Rutgers rally for a 4-3 win to punch their ticket to the semifinals on Saturday.

In the latest Field of 64 projection by On3’s Jonathan Wagner, the Hawkeyes were listed in the ‘Next Four Out’ portion of the projection after finishing the regular season winning just one of their last ten. Splitting their first two games in Omaha puts them in a position where they must win the tournament to earn a bid to an NCAA Tournament Regional due to an RPI that has fallen into the mid-70’s.

First pitch for Saturday’s game between the Hawkeyes and Bruins is scheduled for approximately 6:00pm CT on the Big Ten Network. It will be the first all-time meeting between the two programs.

#13 UCLA Bruins (41-15, 22-8)

Picked 7th in the D1Baseball preseason poll, UCLA finished the regular season with a 39-15 record, including a 22-8 mark in Big Ten play, earning a share of the regular season title with Oregon. The Bruins won eight of their ten conference series, including four sweeps, but were just 4-5 against the top five in the standings. They won both games in Pool B, defeating Illinois (8-6) and Michigan (7-5).

Offensively, the Bruins are a solid bunch, averaging 8.05 runs and 9.77 hits per game. They rank third in the Big Ten in on-base percentage (.411), fourth in batting average (.291), ninth in slugging percentage (.467) and tenth in extra base hits (176). The Bruins have five players batting over .300, but Roch Cholowsky is the only UCLA hitter in the top 25 in the Big Ten in batting average. Over the last ten games, the Bruins are averaging 7.2 runs per game.

As a pitching staff, UCLA has a 4.56 team ERA, which is tied with USC for third-best in the conference. They also rank fourth in the conference in walks per nine innings (4.2), fourth in WHIP (1.40), fifth in hits allowed per inning (0.93) and tenth in strikeouts per nine innings (8.2). Over their last ten games, UCLA is giving up 5.2 runs per game.

In games against the RPI Top 100, UCLA has a 22-10 record, with the offense averaging 8.25 runs per game, while the pitching staff has given up 4.72 runs per game. The Bruins are 14-6 against common opponents of Iowa. Against those same teams, the Hawkeyes have a 14-13-1 record.

Projected Starting Pitcher

RHP Michael Barnett – A Second Team All-Big Ten selection for the Bruins, right-hander Michael Barnett leads the conference with a 10-1 record, while UCLA is 13-2 in games that he has appeared in. He has appeared in 15 games, with ten starts this season, posting a 4.23 ERA over 66.0 innings, including 66 strikeouts to just 20 free bases given up. Opponents have swung the bat well against him, batting .298 and averaging 1.20 hits per inning. That being said, Barnett rarely gives up free bases, averaging 2.73 free bases per nine innings, including just three walks over his last 22.2 innings pitched. Last time out against Northwestern Barnett allowed two runs on six hits over 6.1 innings, including eight strikeouts to one walk.

Bruins Players to Watch

1. SS Roch Cholowsky – A semifinalist for the Golden Spikes Award, shortstop Roch Cholowsky is one of the best players in the country and could very well be the first pick in the 2026 MLB Draft. One of two players to start all 56 games this season, Cholowsky is slashing .370/.513/.779, with 77 hits, 17 doubles, 22 home runs and 65 RBI’s. He has totaled 23 multi-hit games and 15 multi-walk games. As impressive as his batting average is, Cholowsky has a 26.2% walk+hbp rate, totaling 44 walks, 20 hit by pitches and ten intentional walks. All of that comes with a 9.6% strikeout rate, going down on strikes in just 27 of 282 plate appearances. He is currently riding a 20-game hit streak, batting .378, with 28 hits, 15 extra base hits and 26 RBI’s.

2. 1B Mulivai Levu – Right behind Cholowsky in the UCLA lineup, first baseman Mulivai Levu has gotten plenty of opportunities with runners on base and is 12th in the country in RBI’s. In 56 starts, Levu is slashing .314/.383/.515, with 72 hits, 11 doubles, 11 home runs and 72 RBI’s. He has totaled 19 multi-hit games and 18 multi-RBI games, including three games with five RBI’s (Cal Poly, Purdue, Pepperdine). Levu isn’t a huge strikeout threat, owning a 17.0% strikeout rate, but has just a 11.6% walk+hbp rate. Over his last ten games, he is batting .262, with 11 hits, 13 RBI’s and eight strikeouts.

3. OF AJ Salgado – The majority of the talk about the UCLA offense is centered around Cholowsky and Levu, for good reason, but the Bruins have five players with an above .300 average, including Second Team All-Big Ten outfielder AJ Salgado. He has appeared in 54 games, with 52 starts, slashing .311/.415/.612, with 61 hits, 15 doubles, four triples, 12 home runs and 51 RBI’s. He has totaled 16 multi-hit games and 13 multi-RBI games, including a season-high six RBI’s against Nebraska. Over his last ten games, Salgado is batting .325, with 13 hits, four extra base hits, but ten strikeouts.

4. 3B Roman Martin – One of sophomores that have led the Bruins this season, third baseman Roman Martin earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors. In 55 starts, Martin is slashing .308/.451/.480, with 61 hits, 13 doubles, seven home runs and 46 RBI’s. He has totaled 18 multi-hit games and 14 multi-RBI games. Martin leads the team in strikeouts (48), but his 19.1% strikeout rate is far from poor, while he has a 21.2% walk+hbp rate. Over his last ten games, Martin is batting .361, with a .500 on-base percentage, including 13 hits, five extra base hits and seven RBI’s.

Iowa Hawkeyes (33-21-1, 21-9)

Despite seemingly running out of gas down the stretch of the regular season, Iowa found some extra fuel at the bottom of the tank, starting their tournament stay with a critical 4-3 win over Rutgers. They dropped their second game in Pool C, falling 5-0 to Indiana, but the Hawkeyes are hoping to wipe that away and continue their run with a win against UCLA sending them to their second championship game appearance in three seasons.

Through the middle part of the season, the Hawkeye offense was one of the best in the Big Ten, averaging 10.17 runs per game over a stretch of 23 games. However, over their last 12 games, they have averaged just 3.7 runs per game. During that stretch, Iowa is batting just .234, with a .329 on-base percentage, averaging 7.75 hits per game.

As for the pitching staff, they came into the tournament trending in the wrong direction, giving up 6.5 runs per game over their last ten games. They allowed 7.69 hits per nine innings during that stretch, but compounded it greatly, giving up 6.88 free bases per nine innings. In the tournament opener against Rutgers, the pitching staff allowed three runs on nine hits, tallying 13 strikeouts to three walks. However, against Indiana, six free bases given up in the third and fourth inning allowed the Hoosiers to put up five runs, which was plenty of run support in their 5-0 win over Iowa.

Entering the Saturday’s game, junior infielder Gable Mitchell leads the team in batting average (.333), hits (74) and doubles (18), including four hits in two games in Omaha. Redshirt sophomore catcher/designated hitter Reese Moore leads the team in extra base hits (27) and slugging percentage (.555).

Projected Starting Pitcher

RHP Aaron Savary – A First Team All-Big Ten selection for the Hawkeyes this season, Aaron Savary is set to the make the biggest start of his Iowa career on Saturday evening. In 14 starts this season, Savary has a 3.74 ERA over 77.0 innings, including 81 strikeouts to 47 free bases given up. He has completed 5.0+ innings in 11 of his 14 starts, including six starts of 6.0+ innings. Opponents are batting .215 against him, which is good for seventh lowest in the Big Ten, while they are averaging just 0.75 hits per inning. Last time out against Oregon, Savary allowed three runs on seven hits over 5.2 innings, including two strikeouts to one walk. He has thrown 758 of 1225 (61.9%) pitches for strikes this season.

Final Thought

Here we go, a Big Ten championship appearance for the second time in three seasons is on the line. They keys to the game for Iowa start on the offensive side. The Hawkeyes have struggled to score runs late in the season but doesn’t matter in what is now a win or go home game. When opportunities to score arise, hitters have to come through, whether it’s grinding out an at-bat for a walk, hitting a sac fly or driving in runs with two outs.

On the pitching side, limiting free bases will be important. The UCLA offense is exceptional at reaching base, but Hawkeye pitchers can’t help them out and compound on top of the hits they are going to collect. Although Iowa is just 2-9-1 in their last 12 games, this is still a team that has accomplished a lot this season and they are capable of beating the Bruins.