UCLA No. 1 seed eliminated

Saint Mary’s knocked out No. 1 overall seed UCLA with a 6-5 win in 10 innings on Sunday, May 31, ending the Bruins’ season two days after handing them their first regional loss. The elimination game at Jackie Robinson Stadium turned on two-out hitting late, with the Gaels tying the score in the ninth and winning it in the 10th on Makoa Sniffen’s RBI single. UCLA had entered the NCAA tournament as the top national seed after a 51-6 regular season and was listed at 52-8 after the defeat. NCAA.com said UCLA became the fifth No. 1 overall seed since the 16-regional format began in 1999 to fail to reach the super regionals. ### How did the elimination game get away from UCLA? UCLA led 5-4 entering the bottom of the ninth after building its offense around a first-inning run, two more in the second and two in the fifth. Dean West drove in two runs for the Bruins, and Roman Martin and Trey Gudoy also had RBIs in the loss, according to NCAA.com’s game summary. Saint Mary’s tied the game with two outs in the ninth when Ian Armstrong singled home Tanner Griffith from second base, UCLA said in its recap. (uclabruins.com) In the 10th, the Gaels again scored with two outs, this time on Sniffen’s walk-off single. UCLA said Saint Mary’s scored five of its six runs with two outs and finished with 15 hits to the Bruins’ nine. (ncaa.com) ### Why was this result so unusual for a No. 1 overall seed? NCAA.com said UCLA was only the second No. 1 national seed ever not to reach a regional final and the fifth top overall seed since 1999 not to advance out of its own regional. The same NCAA report said Saint Mary’s had already made history by beating UCLA 3-2 in the regional opener, the first time since the current format began in 1999 that the No. 1 national seed lost its opening regional game. (uclabruins.com) Yahoo Sports reported the Bruins’ exit marked the second straight year that the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed failed to survive regionals. That framing underscored how quickly UCLA’s path changed after arriving as the national top seed and regional host. (ncaa.com) ### What did Saint Mary’s have to do to beat UCLA twice? Saint Mary’s first upset UCLA 3-2 on Friday, May 29, in the Los Angeles Regional opener. Yahoo Sports reported Jacob Johnson hit the go-ahead home run in the ninth inning of that game, handing UCLA its first loss since April 14. (sports.yahoo.com) The rematch required more offense. UCLA’s official recap said Saint Mary’s improved to 36-26 with the win and advanced to the regional final after producing 15 hits and overcoming a one-run deficit in the ninth. Saint Mary’s called the victory the program’s first trip to a regional final. ### What does UCLA’s record show about the scale of the upset? (sports.yahoo.com) NCAA.com’s rankings page listed UCLA at 51-6 entering the tournament as college baseball’s top-ranked team. After losses to Saint Mary’s and wins over Fresno State and Arizona State in the regional, UCLA finished 52-8, according to the Bruins’ recap and NCAA game pages. The Bruins’ two defeats in the regional both came by one run against the No. 4 seed. (uclabruins.com) That left a team that had been the wire-to-wire No. 1 in the regular season out before the super regional round. ### What happened next in the regional? Saint Mary’s was scheduled to face Cal Poly at 6 p.m. local time on Sunday, May 31, with a chance to force a winner-take-all game on Monday, UCLA said after the elimination game. (ncaa.com) NCAA.com’s 2026 Division I bracket and regional updates continued to track the winners advancing toward the Men’s College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, which is scheduled for June 12-22. (uclabruins.com) (ncaa.com)