UCLA Baseball Suffers Upset Defeat to Saint Mary’s in NCAA Regional Opener

The No. 1 overall seeded UCLA Bruins suffered a significant setback on Day 1 of the 2026 NCAA baseball tournament, losing their regional opener to the No. 4 seeded Saint Mary’s Gaels by a score of 3-2. The match took place at Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles, where the Gaels overcame the top seed to advance within the double-elimination format.

Saint Mary’s sophomore infielder Jacob Johnson was instrumental in the victory, hitting two home runs during the contest. His first solo shot in the fourth inning off UCLA pitcher Wylan Moss gave the Gaels an early 1-0 lead, though UCLA tied the game in the same frame on a solo homer from Roman Martin. Johnson’s second home run, a go-ahead shot in the top of the ninth inning off Easton Hawk, ultimately proved to be the decisive run.

UCLA had briefly taken a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning after National Player of the Year Roch Cholowsky drove in Trey Gudoy with a sacrifice fly. However, Saint Mary’s tied the game at 2-2 in the sixth inning on an RBI double by Makoa Sniffen. Saint Mary’s starter John Damozonio provided a strong pitching performance, completing seven innings while allowing two runs and five hits with six strikeouts.

Easton Hawk took the loss for UCLA after entering the tournament with a 1.81 ERA, 14 saves, and a strikeout rate of 11 per nine innings. Cam Staton secured the win for the Gaels with two scoreless innings of relief, recording two strikeouts and allowing only one hit. The game concluded with Cholowsky hitting a fly ball to center field for the final out.

Despite the defeat, UCLA remains in the tournament as the loss does not eliminate them in the double-elimination structure. The Bruins are scheduled to face the loser of the Friday night matchup between the No. 2 seeded Virginia Tech Hokies and the No. 3 seeded Cal Poly Mustangs in their next game to avoid elimination.