The UCLA baseball team has been unanimously selected as the preseason favorite to win the Big Ten Conference, according to an announcement by league officials on Tuesday. This recognition follows a 2025 season in which UCLA shared the conference title with Oregon.
In the Big Ten preseason poll, conducted among the conference’s head coaches, Oregon was picked to finish second and USC was chosen for third place. Nebraska, Indiana, and Iowa rounded out the top six teams.
Three Bruins have also been named as Big Ten Players to Watch: junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky, junior first baseman Mulivai Levu, and junior right-handed pitcher Logan Reddemann. Cholowsky receives this preseason honor for the second consecutive year. Levu and Reddemann are being recognized for the first time in their college careers.
Cholowsky begins the 2026 season after a highly successful previous year in which he became both Big Ten Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year—the first Bruin to win both honors in one season. He was also awarded national honors including the Brooks Wallace Award as best collegiate shortstop, an ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove, and was named Perfect Game’s National Player of the Year.
Levu had a productive 2025 campaign, earning Second Team All-Big Ten recognition. He drove in 85 runs (second most nationally), hit .320 with 12 home runs, started every game for UCLA, and committed only one error defensively en route to winning an ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove.
Reddemann transferred from San Diego after two seasons where he posted a combined 10-5 record with a 3.20 ERA over 131.1 innings pitched. His achievements included selection to the NCBWA Freshman All-American Second Team in 2024 and three WCC Pitcher of the Week awards. In 2025, he recorded a 2.29 ERA over 11 appearances with notable outings against Oregon State and Saint Mary’s.
UCLA opens its regular season with a three-game home series against UC San Diego from February 13–15 before facing Tulane at home on February 17. The homestand continues with a weekend series against TCU from February 20–22.
The full Bruins’ baseball schedule is available at this link. Single-game tickets can be purchased here.
