UCLA Pitcher Angel Cervantes Has a Unique Secret Weapon—A Plastic Dinosaur

Please acquaint yourself with Jerry ahead of the NCAA baseball tournament.

Angel Cervantes has helped UCLA go 51-6 this season with the help of a reptilian friend. | Ric Tapia/Getty Images

Baseball and college sports both boast more than their fair share of offbeat mascots. UCLA, for instance, has the distinguished ursine couple of Joe and Josephine Bruin.

On Sunday, however, college baseball fans were introduced to the sport’s smallest mascot yet.

During UCLA’s thrilling 3–2, extra-innings win over Oregon in the Big Ten tournament championship game, Bruins pitcher Angel Cervantes struck out five batters in five shutout innings. He did this with the help of Jerry, a small plastic dinosaur that accompanies him to the mound every game.

You read that right.

Big Ten Network’s broadcast, which soon went somewhat viral, featured multiple close-up shots of the triceratops standing sentinel over the Charles Schwab Field mound in Omaha, Neb. Michella Chester, the game’s dugout reporter, told viewers to “look out for (the changeup) and Jerry.”

Everyone, meet Jerry the dinosaur 🦕

Angel Cervantes keeps a mini dinosaur with him during each game, you can sometimes spot Jerry on the mound 👀

📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/VfHnJp8sX6

— Big Ten Baseball (@B1Gbaseball) May 24, 2026

Cervantes went long on Jerry the dinosaur postgame

After the game, Cervantes gave a long speech on the importance of Jerry, transcribed by Noah Darling of College Baseball Central thusly.

“He’s just my little guy that’s just hanging out with me. Sometimes when I look down, I put my hand on my lid, I like to take two breaths and that’s what I’m looking at the whole time. He calms me down,” Cervantes said. “I know it might sound, like, childish—but I mean whatever works for you and that’s what works for me, so he’s gonna be here for a long time.”

In January, Cervantes told Alfred Ezman of World Baseball Network that Jerry got his start when the pitcher needed a subject for a high school photography class.

“I started taking pictures of him. Eventually, I started putting him next to me on the mound—right behind the rubber,” Cervantes said.

Clearly, Jerry is working for both UCLA and Cervantes

The Bruins are nowhere close to extinction. In fact, they enter the NCAA tournament an eye-popping 51-6; UCLA lost twice in all of May (to the Ducks and Washington). The team is in prime position for a second straight deep tournament run—last season, the Bruins made their first College World Series since winning their only national title in 2013.

As for Cervantes—a second-round draft pick of the Pirates in 2025 out of Warren (Calif.) High School—he has acclimated decently to the college ranks. In 2026, he’s gone 4-1 in 14 starts with a 3.86 ERA and 30 strikeouts in 44 1/3 innings.

He is part of a roster overflowing with future MLB talent, such as shortstop Roch Cholowsky—a candidate to be picked first by the White Sox in July’s draft. Cholowsky was one of seven UCLA players to make the All-Big Ten first team; two more made the second and third teams, and Bruins boss John Savage was named the conference Coach of the Year.

UCLA is one of the top 16 national seeds—it’s No. 1 in the country in RPI, in fact—and so will host a four-team regional in this year’s NCAA tournament. Expect Jerry to attend as well, and underestimate his considerable power at your own risk.

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