UCLA eliminated – UCLA, the No. 1 seed in the NCAA baseball tournament, was knocked out on Sunday in the Los Angeles regional after a 6-5, 10th-inning walk-off loss to Saint Mary’s. The Bruins had entered the ninth inning leading 5-4, but Ian Armstrong tied the game with a two-
UCLA didn’t just lose a game on Sunday—it lost the season it had built, right there in the Los Angeles regional, when the ninth inning slipped from its hands and the 10th never let go.
The No. 1 seed Bruins were up 5-4 as the 9th began, but Saint Mary’s kept working with two outs. Ian Armstrong delivered a game-tying single to send the contest into extra innings.
UCLA fought back in the 10th, only to see Saint Mary’s strike first for the deciding margin. In that inning, Makoa Sniffen bounced a single into left field and Cody Kashimoto scored to produce a 6-5 walk-off, sending UCLA home early.
The shock didn’t stop there. UCLA didn’t just fall to Saint Mary’s once. It had already been pushed to the loser’s side of the double-elimination bracket on Friday by the same Gaels.
That context mattered: UCLA entered the tournament with a 51-6 record. and it had made history during the season as the first team to go wire-to-wire as the No. 1 seed. Still, this was the first time in the current NCAA tournament format that a national No. 1 seed lost its regional opener to a No. 4 seed.
After the Friday loss. UCLA managed to steady itself on Saturday. bouncing back with a 6-5 walk-off win against Virginia Tech to earn a chance at revenge against Saint Mary’s. The Bruins even got that opening in the bracket—but the Gaels answered again. beating UCLA for a second time over the weekend.
Now the road belongs to Saint Mary’s. The Gaels will need to beat Cal Poly twice in order to advance to the super regionals after landing on the elimination side of the bracket following a loss to Cal Poly earlier.
For UCLA, the storyline ends with a team that had dominated all season—only to be erased in extra innings on the first weekend of its postseason journey.
NCAA baseball UCLA Bruins Saint Mary's Gaels Los Angeles regional Ian Armstrong Makoa Sniffen Cody Kashimoto Virginia Tech Cal Poly super regionals walk-off