Bruins Star SS Talks Impressive Start to Season

UCLA Bruins star sophomore shortstop Roch Cholowsky joined the Bruin Insider Show to discuss the impressive 16-4 start to the 2025 season and his growth as a second-year starter for the Bruins.

West Squad's Roch Cholowsky, of Hamilton High School in Chandler, catches a ball at second base mid-inning during the Perfect Game All-American Classic at Chase Field on Sunday, Aug. 28, 2022. Uscp 7mie98j253cy1fd11rk2 Original / Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY NETWORK

The UCLA Bruins (16-4, 5-1) have jumped out to one of their best starts in recent history and have joined the Big Ten with a bang, being led by sophomore shortstop Roch Cholowsky. The rising star had an opportunity to speak on the Bruins' hot start to 2025.

Cholowsky joined the Bruin Insider Show with UCLA broadcast duo Bryan Fenley and Nick Hoop to discuss the team's early success and the progression that he has made as a young star within a historically great program.

After suffering a down year in 2024, finishing the season 19-33, the Bruins were ripe with a lot of freshman talent that played a majority of the season and were baptized by fire in their first season of college baseball. It is no surprise that this group of young talent has found success in year two.

Cholowsky started all 52 games for the Bruins as a freshman last year alongside several first-year teammates. Infielder Mulivai Levu started 43 games, outfielder Dean West played in 20 games, infielder Phoenix Call played in 32. Those are currently four of the Bruins' top six hitters by average.

"The experience does a lot, getting to play in 52 games last year, just kind of getting to run through the trial and error and the experience of that has been huge," Cholowsky said.

"Just to hit the ground running [in] year two, I think everyone experienced it last year. We had a few freshmen that got to play almost every day last year, and guys got some taste, so getting through the fall and hitting the ground running once the season starts has been big."

Bruins head coach John Savage and his squad suffered a disappointing season last year but are now reaping the benefits of giving so many young players ample opportunities to learn and grow. This young group of talent is going to see even more success through the next few years.

Cholowsky has a total of 15 home runs over his career, ripping seven already through 20 games this year. He was asked if he had a favorite and made sure to show his Bruin pride, discussing the two that he hit in one game against bitter rival, USC, earlier this year.

"The favorite was probably against SC a couple weeks ago, nothing better than beating those guys," Cholowsky said.

The Bruins are currently second in the Big Ten standings at 5-1. They just earned a series sweep of Nebraska last weekend, and Cholowsky is eager to make a statement in a new conference. The Big Ten may not be as star-studded as the Pac-12, but the Bruins are ready to make noise.

"We're in a new conference, so we just want to prove ourselves," Cholowsky said. "The Big Ten's a really good baseball conference, they've had some good teams, and they do have good teams, year in, year out. So just being the newcomers and trying to set the standard for who we are and who we're going to be for the years to come is something that we look forward to."

Cholowsky and the Bruins will be back in action this weekend for their third Big Ten series and second at Jackie Robinson Stadium. They will battle the Indiana Hoosiers (12-9, 4-2), a team that sits one game behind UCLA in the conference standings. The series begins Friday at 6 p.m. PT.

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