UCLA's Recruit Class Ranked No. 1 Nationally by Baseball America

LOS ANGELES – Baseball America on Wednesday morning announced that UCLA's incoming recruiting class has been ranked No. 1 in the country, the fourth consecutive year the Bruins have produced a top-10 class.

UCLA becomes the first west coast school to earn the No. 1 ranking since Stanford in 2010, and is the lone west coast program in the top-five of the 2021 rankings. In addition, the Bruins have now brought in a nationally-ranked recruiting class in seven consecutive years and 15 of 17 seasons overall under head coach John Savage.

"With the guidance of [assistant coach/recruiting coordinator] Bryant Ward as well as [assistant coach] Niko Gallego, the coaching staff has worked extremely hard on the recruiting trail," said Savage. "We are very excited about the upside of this young class and the impact it will have on our program over the next several years. With 10 players from our team selected in the 2021 MLB Draft, it's nice to see an infusion of talent added back into our program."

The incoming group of Bruins features three players from the top-100, and five from the top-125, of Baseball America's top 500 prospect list for the 2021 Draft. UCLA lost just one commit to the draft this year.

"With the percentage of Major League players that have attended college growing every year, it shows that attending college is a route that is appealing to the player coming out of high school," said Savage. "We are fortunate to bring this class to UCLA."

The newest group of Bruins is headlined four players ranked inside the top-100 nationally by Perfect Game in outfielder Malakhi Knight (No. 26), right-handed pitcher Thatcher Hurd (36), infielder Cody Schrier (43), and left-handed pitcher Gage Jump (45).

The Bruins are also slated to bring in talented transfers from both the four-year and junior college ranks: outfielder Kenny Oyama will join UCLA as a grad transfer after batting .320 for Loyola Marymount this past season, and right-hander Kelly Austin is Westwood-bound after earning conference pitcher of the year honors this spring with Orange Coast College (6-0, 1.26 ERA, 55 Ks in 43 IP).

The 2021 UCLA baseball recruiting class also features standout prep players in right-hander Alonzo Tredwell (No. 164 national ranking from Perfect Game), right-hander Luke Jewett (195), outfielder Nick McLain (211, younger brother of Bruin alum Matt McLain), catcher Jack Holman (292), and infielder Bryce Grudzielanek (314). The class is rounded out by right-handed pitcher Josh Alger, who was No. 342 in the BA Top-500 Draft rankings, right-handed pitcher Nate Leibold, who pitched to a 2.19 ERA this summer in the West Coast League, left-hander Ethan Flanagan, who was an Orange County All-Star our of Santa Margarita Catholic HS, and infielder Ethan Gourson, an All-CIF shortstop out of Point Loma HS. 

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