UCLA baseball has received national recognition as two of its players, junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky and junior first baseman Mulivai Levu, were named to Baseball America’s Preseason All-America teams for 2026. Cholowsky was also selected as the outlet’s preseason Player of the Year and earned a spot on the First Team. Levu was named to the Third Team.
Cholowsky is entering the new season after what UCLA describes as one of the most accomplished individual campaigns in program history. He is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, becoming both the first Bruin to sweep these awards in a single season and the first UCLA player since 1998 to be recognized as conference player of the year. On a national level, he became UCLA’s first recipient of the Brooks Wallace Award for top shortstop, added an ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove, and was named Perfect Game’s National Player of the Year.
Statistically, Cholowsky led all Division I players with a 6.49 WAR (Wins Above Replacement) last season. He posted a .353 batting average, .480 on-base percentage, .710 slugging percentage, with 23 home runs and 74 RBIs. His OPS (on-base plus slugging) stood at 1.261 and his slugging percentage at .761—both leading marks in the Big Ten Conference. His home run total was also notable for being unmatched by any UCLA player in more than twenty years. With 80 runs scored—just one shy of tying UCLA’s single-season record—and totaling 179 bases, he recorded one of the best offensive seasons by a Bruin during college baseball’s Super Regional era.
Levu returns after a breakout year where he earned Second Team All-Big Ten honors and finished second nationally with 85 RBIs while maintaining a .320 batting average and hitting 12 home runs. Defensively, he started every game for UCLA last season at first base and committed only one error in 569 chances; this performance resulted in an ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove award.
The Bruins will begin their regular season with three home games against UC San Diego from February 13-15 before facing Tulane on February 17 in a midweek matchup. The opening homestand continues with another series against TCU from February 20-22.
“Fans can view the Bruins’ 2026 baseball schedule here,” according to information released by UCLA Athletics, “and the link to purchase UCLA’s single-game tickets is here.”
