Roch Cholowsky and the Bruins will have to come out of the losers’ bracket if they hope to advance in the NCAA Tournament. Steven Branscombe / Imagn Images
May 29, 2026 Updated June 21, 2026
UCLA, the No. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament, made history Friday afternoon. And not the good kind.
The Bruins lost to Saint Mary’s 3-2 at Jackie Robinson Stadium, becoming the first No. 1 seed to lose the No. 1 vs. No. 4 opening game in NCAA Tournament history.
Sophomore Jacob Johnson was the offensive star for the Gaels, hitting two home runs, including a solo shot that broke a 2-2 tie in the top of the ninth off UCLA closer Easton Hawk. Hawk, who entered the game with a 1.41 ERA and a 0.991 WHIP, had not given up an earned run since March 8, a span of 25 consecutive games.
Saint Mary’s, which made the field by winning the WCC tournament, is not new to NCAA Tournament upsets. Last year as a No. 4 seed, the Gaels knocked off Oregon State, the top seed in the Corvallis Regional, 6-4 on the opening day of the tournament. SMC, however, lost its next two games, and Oregon State battled back out of the losers’ bracket to advance to the Super Regionals.
UCLA (51-7) will need to follow the same path if it hopes to return to the College World Series for the second straight season. The Bruins will play the loser of Friday’s Virginia Tech-Cal Poly game in an elimination game Saturday afternoon. Last year, Vanderbilt became the first No. 1 overall seed to fail to reach the Regional final. In 2024, Tennessee became the first No. 1 overall seed to win the national championship since Miami in 1999.
The Bruins’ loss was part of a wild first half of the first day of the NCAA Tournament. Three other No. 1 seeds also lost — Auburn to Milwaukee, Southern Miss to Little Rock and Florida State to St. John’s — and four No. 3 seeds knocked off No. 2 seeds.
Jul 28, 2026
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