Coach John Savage was able to fend his program from the beast for two-straight offseasons.
But Monday, the SEC took a bite out of the Bruins.
Rising redshirt senior outfielder Payton Brennan announced his transfer to Texas on Monday evening via Instagram. Brennan headlined the Bruins’ 2022 recruiting class, was an everyday starter for the past two seasons and led the team in hits during its Men’s College World Series run in 2025 – the program’s first since 2013.
Brennan was a top-200 prospect coming out of Rocklin High School, per MLB Pipeline, but he chose to continue his commitment to UCLA. After redshirting his first year, the outfielder made 30 starts in 2024 before posting a .868 OPS across 50 games in a breakout redshirt sophomore campaign.
About a year ago, center fielder Will Gasparino – who MLB Pipeline projects as a 2026 second-round draft pick – made the move from Austin back home to Los Angeles, pushing Brennan to right field.
Brennan could have transferred – or even pursued signing with an MLB organization via the draft a year ago – but ultimately opted to stay.
The outfielder said he felt he and his teammates had unfinished business after coming up short in the 2025 MCWS.
But after UCLA’s 2026 campaign – one where it completed the entire regular season as the nation’s No. 1 team and entered the NCAA tournament as the No. 1 overall seed – ended in the Los Angeles Regional on May 30, Brennan entered the portal June 15.
Brennan joins a program that made it to Omaha as the No. 6 overall seed in 2026 before being eliminated after its third game.
During the season, Savage said many players would have taken offense to relinquishing their spot after delivering a season like Brennan’s during 2025 and commended the outfielder for shifting to right field without a complaint.
The new Longhorn posted a career-high .885 OPS in 2026, slashing .290/.392/.493 with nine home runs and 51 RBIs – both personal bests.
Brennan is Savage’s first loss to the SEC via the transfer portal since right-hander Thatcher Hurd and southpaw Gage Jump made the move to LSU after the 2022 and 2023 seasons, respectively. Both Jump and Hurd previously headlined the coach’s 2021 recruiting class which was ranked No. 1 in the nation by Baseball America.
It appeared Brennan was ready to move on from collegiate play after participating in the Bruins’ Senior Day festivities May 10.
But now, it seems the outfielder was only ready to say goodbye to Westwood.
