No. 1 national seed UCLA baseball eliminated by

Saint Mary’s has achieved the seemingly unthinkable — the Gaels have eliminated UCLA, the nation’s top-ranked crew, from the NCAA match.

With two outs in the tenth inning, Makoa Sniffen drove in Cody Kashimoto on a walk-off single off UCLA reliever Easton Hawk to elevate Saint Mary’s to a 6-5 comeback win Sunday in a Los Angeles Regional elimination recreation at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

The Gaels (36-26), who also surprised the Bruins (52-8) in the regional opener on Friday, made the Big Ten champions just the second NCAA No. 1 general seed — after Vanderbilt in 2025 — to be eliminated from the regional spherical since the current format was established in 1999.

“Obviously, this weekend, we just did not play up to our standards,” UCLA coach John Savage said. “I really felt it was a struggle, for whatever reason — all three games, really. But it’s nothing to take away from this team. You win 52 games [and are] preseason [No.1], and you never leave that spot; it’s really remarkable and a lot of credit to our captains, to our seniors, to the entire program … I just can’t say enough about the people that I’m around and that I’ve coached.”

Against all odds, Saint Mary’s is still alive and enjoying Cal Poly in the regional last on Sunday night time.

“Felt like 12 rounds with the heavyweight champ,” Saint Mary’s coach Eric Valenzuela said of the Gaels’ wins over UCLA. “So proud of our group, the fight.”

Favored to win their first national title since 2013, the Bruins led the Gaels 5-4 coming into the ninth and needed just three outs to continue what had been this system’s best season ever.

But Tanner Griffith led with a base hit off UCLA reliever Cal Randall and — after being moved to second following a sacrifice bunt from Diego Castellanos — catcher Ian Armstrong introduced Griffith home with an RBI single to proper subject off Hawk.

Saint Mary’s reliever David Roberts retired the Bruins in order in the tenth. Hawk then struck out Brayden Gutierrez before Kashimoto hit an infield single. Griffith superior Kashimoto to second on a groundout to first. Two batters later, Sniffen’s hit to left subject gave Kashimoto just enough time to beat a throw to the plate, sealing the Gaels’ win.

Randall and Hawk pitched in all three of UCLA’s regional video games. Savage saluted your entire pitching workers — highlighting Angel Cervantes’ development as a freshman — but added that Logan Reddemann’s absence had a “major effect” on the workers. The ace right-hander hadn’t pitched since April 17 because of arm soreness.

“It had a ripple effect on the starters, had a ripple effect on the bullpen,” Savage said of Reddemann’s absence. “The effect it had on roles, the effect it had on usage [was a] major deal. No excuses, because [we] still won. But at the same time, it looked a little different and it felt a little different, and at the end, I think it really hurt losing a potential first-rounder the last six weeks.”

The Big Ten coach of the yr took the time to acknowledge the Bruins’ junior class for sticking with this system throughout its ascent, admiring the “all kinds of players” he expects to be chosen in July’s MLB draft.

Savage, though, was significantly emotional when discussing the eventual departure of shortstop and back-to-back Big Ten participant of the yr Roch Cholowsky, who is widely anticipated to be a first-round decide.

“Cholowsky just meant so much to the program,” Savage said. “He just had such an impact on the program. He had such an impact on people. Had impact on a fan base. Had impact on the community. Just such a winning, winning player. It’s hard to watch a guy like that leave … but it’s what he’s all about. He’s all about the right things.

“He’s a Bruin through and through. And at the end of the day, you couldn’t ask for a better player or a better person than Roch.”

Led by Cholowsky and eight other All-Big Ten alternatives, with the best crew ERA (3.27) throughout the common season, the Bruins had misplaced merely six occasions before the regional and had received every sequence.

But after dropping two video games to Saint Mary’s, as regional hosts for a second consecutive yr, UCLA has no alternative but to go back to the drafting board in preparation for 2027.

“I feel for them,” Savage said of his clubhouse. “It’s the college game … anything can happen. We didn’t play well enough this weekend.”