Baseball
- Title:
- Assistant Coach
Niko Gallego completed his 11th season on the UCLA baseball coaching staff in 2024. He was promoted to a full-time assistant coach position in September 2021 after spending the previous seven years as a volunteer assistant coach. Gallego re-joined the program ahead of the 2015 campaign following a four-year professional career.
Gallego primarily serves as an infield coach and assists with the hitters. In addition, he aids assistant coach/recruiting coordinator Bryant Ward and head coach John Savage on the recruiting front. UCLA has regularly turned in nationally-ranked recruiting classes during Gallego's tenure, including top-five classes in 2015, 2018, 2019, 2021, and 2023. Most recently, the Bruins produced the No. 1 recruiting class in the country twice in a three-year span (the freshman groups for the 2022 and 2024 seasons).
UCLA turned in a banner year in 2025, claiming a share of the Big Ten regular season crown in their inaugural campaign within the conference. The Bruins piled up 48 wins, their highest mark since 2019. UCLA promptlyย secured their 26th NCAA Tournament berthย and 14th under Savageโs leadership. Earning the No. 15 overall seed, UCLA hosted an NCAA Regional at Jackie Robinson Stadium for the first time in six years and made the most of it, sweeping through the bracket with authority. They followed that up by hosting and winning the NCAA Super Regional, dispatching UTSA in consecutive games to punch their sixth ticket to the Men's College World Series.
During their momentous 2025 campaign, the Bruinsย notched an impressive array of achievements that defined the season. UCLA finished as the seventh ranked defense in the nation with a team fielding percentage of .982. The Bruins led the country in double plays with 66 while Roch Cholowsky and Mulivai Levu headlined the spectacular defense, earning ABCA/Rawlings Gold Gloves at their respective positions. This was the first time two UCLA players received Gold Glove honors in the same season. The Bruins proved to be one of the most prolific offenses in the nation, finishing in the top-25 nationally for runs scored and hits.
The Bruins put together another winning season in 2023, going 28-24-1 en route to the No. 7 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament. UCLA was led on the position player side by senior catcher Darius Perry and sophomore infielder Duce Gourson. Perry earned Pac-12 All-Conference Team and Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors, batting .278 and throwing out 42% of attempted base stealers. Gourson led the Bruins offensively with a .319/.438/.515 slash line, earning All-Pac-12 honors and an invite to the USA Baseball Collegiate National Team.
The Bruins went 40-24 and earned a No. 2 seed in the Auburn Regional in 2022. Gallego helped the development of UCLA's middle-infield duo of SS Cody Schrier (team-leading nine home runs) and 2B Ethan Gourson (program freshman record 23 doubles), who both went on to earn Freshman All-America status. In addition, UCLA had one of its most well-rounded offensive years in some time,ย recording the most hits (619) by a Bruin team since 2012, the most walks (318) since 1997, the most stolen bases (74) since 2010, and the most HBPs (106) in school history.
UCLA went 37-20 as a team in 2021, reaching the postseason for the fourth consecutive time and finishing the season ranked No. 24 in the country.ย
UCLA was off to a hot start in 2020 before the abrupt cancellation of the season due to COVID-19, winning 11 straight games out of the gate en route to a 13-2 final record. The offense was a key part of that, as eight Bruin regulars were hitting over .300 at season's end while the team's .308 batting average ranked No. 20 in the country.ย
Gallego helped the Bruins to one of the best seasons in program history in 2019, as the Bruins set a school record for wins at 52-11 while winning the Pac-12 title, spending 12 weeks at the top of the national rankings, and earning the No. 1 national seed in the NCAA Tournament. For the second consecutive season, UCLA finished third in the nation in fielding percentage at .982.ย
In 2018, the Bruins finished third in the NCAA in fielding percentage at .982. Chase Strumpf led the Pac-12 during the regular season in assists and was eighth in the conference with 32 double plays. In total, the Bruins turned 42 double plays on the season.
Assisting with the defensive effort, Gallego helped UCLA secure a .977 fielding percentage in 2015, good for second in the Pac-12 and 18th in the nation, and helped lead the Bruins to a 45-16 record in 2015 and the programโs 11th Pac-12 Championship. The Bruins turned 42 double plays and infielders Chris Keck (5) and Trent Chatterton (8) each had single-digit errors, posting fielding percentage marks of .972 and .968 respectively.
The Yorba Linda, Calif. native played three seasons at UCLA (2008-10), leading the Bruins to NCAA Regionals in 2008 and 2010 and the team's third-ever trip to the College World Series in 2010. In 141 games (133 starts) for the Bruins, Gallego hit .274 with 64 RBI and 81 runs. A two-time honorable mention All-Pac-10 honoree, Gallego was selected in the 27th round of the 2010 MLB Draft by the Arizona Diamondbacks following his junior season in Westwood.
In 2010, Gallego started more games than any other Bruin (67). The starting shortstop batted .267 with three home runs, two triples, 14 doubles, 33 RBI and 51 runs. Gallego led the team and ranked second in the Pac-10 with 27 stolen bases (on 29 attempts). His stolen base total was more than any Bruin since former major leaguer Eric Byrnes had 30 steals as a senior in 1998. Overall, Gallego recorded 14 multiple-hit contests, including one four-hit game and one three-hit effort.
As a sophomore in 2009, Gallego started 55 games, all at shortstop, while batting .273 with eight doubles, one triple, 27 RBI and 26 runs. That season, Gallego collected 12 multi-hit games, including two three-hit efforts. In addition, he had a career-best seven game hit streak from April 14-25.
In 2008 as a freshman, Gallego played in 19 games (11 starts). Gallego batted .317, totaling two doubles, one triple, four RBI and four runs while hitting safely in nine of 11 starts.
Over 255 career minor league games, Gallego racked up 173 hits, 92 runs and 65 RBI between A and AA ball. In his rookie season with the Visalia Rawhide, Gallego hit .238 with 18 runs and 14 RBI in 39 games at shortstop.
Gallego graduated from Esperanza High School and currently resides in Brentwood.
