UCLA’s run to the top seed ended abruptly when the Bruins lost to Saint Mary’s after squandering leads in a double-elimination regional in Tuscaloosa, joining a short list of No. 1 teams bounced early—and extending a consecutive-year first.
For more than a week. UCLA had been treated like the team built to go the distance—52-7. a Big Ten championship run. and the No. 1 seed in the 2026 NCAA Baseball Tournament. Then. inside its own regional. the Bruins’ season slipped out of reach in a familiar. brutal way: a double-elimination loss that ended with a single swing deciding everything.
The Bruins were eliminated in the Los Angeles regional after losing twice to Saint Mary’s. First came a 3-2 loss on May 29, which pushed UCLA into the losers’ bracket against Virginia Tech. John Savage’s group avoided a rarer fate—becoming the first No. 1 seed to start the NCAA tournament 0-2 since the field expanded to 64 teams in 1999—by rallying after a two-run deficit. then winning 6-5.
But the damage was already done. On May 31, UCLA had already used one escape, only to lose another game it had been in command of. The Bruins squandered 3-0 and 5-2 leads as Saint Mary’s scored one run each in the fifth. sixth and ninth innings to send the game to extras. In extra innings. Makoa Sniffen hit an RBI single to left field. scoring Cody Kashimoto to end it 6-5—and end UCLA’s season two rounds shy of Omaha. Nebraska.
No. 1 seeds rarely fail to get out of their regional. UCLA still did, making the Bruins part of a list of teams that have been bounced before reaching the Omaha bracket:
2007 Vanderbilt
2014 Oregon State
2015 UCLA
2025 Vanderbilt
2026 UCLA
With UCLA’s elimination in 2026, another record is now in play: it’s the first time the No. 1 seed of the NCAA Baseball Tournament has been eliminated from contention in the regionals in consecutive years. Vanderbilt last season suffered the same kind of ending, losing its losers’ bracket game to Wright State.
The story isn’t just about one upset. It’s about what UCLA’s loss adds to a growing ledger of No. 1 seeds that never made it out. UCLA and Vanderbilt are now tied for most regional exits by No. 1 seeds with two apiece.
The sequence leaves the same unanswered questions lingering for any top seed: how quickly momentum can vanish. and how unforgiving the regional format becomes once a team slips into the losers’ bracket. UCLA had the top billing—then. after two losses in three days. the Bruins were left with only a history lesson instead of Omaha dreams.
UCLA Saint Mary's NCAA baseball tournament regionals No. 1 seed Omaha May 29 May 31 Makoa Sniffen Cody Kashimoto Virginia Tech John Savage
UCLA choking again?? wild.
So they were basically unstoppable like 52-7 and then just poof they’re out. I don’t even get how a 3-0 lead turns into extra innings like that. Baseball is brutal I guess.
Wait is this the one where the No. 1 seed was actually favored but lost because of that “single swing” thing? Sounds like coaching or something, like if they didn’t manage the bullpen then that’s on them. Also why is UCLA getting compared to 2007 Vanderbilt like it’s the same scenario? not really the same teams.
I feel like the regional format is set up to fail the top teams. Like once you drop the first one it’s over, even if you’re better. And they keep saying it’s happened in consecutive years?? that’s crazy like the whole system is cursed. I’m not saying UCLA didn’t mess up, but 2 losses and done seems kinda ridiculous.