NCAA baseball tournament: No. 1 overall seed UCLA loses regional opener at home to Saint Mary's, 3-2

Day 1 of the 2026 NCAA baseball tournament provided an early shocker, with No. 1 overall seed UCLA losing its opener to No. 4 Saint Mary’s 3-2 in the Los Angeles Regional on Friday at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Jacob Johnson’s second home run of the game off Bruins pitcher Easton Hawk put the Gaels ahead in the top of the ninth inning. Cam Staton closed out the game for Saint Mary’s with two strikeouts and a single allowed to Phoenix Call. National Player of the Year Roch Cholowsky hit a fly ball to center field for the final out.

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Johnson, a sophomore infielder, gave the Gaels a 1-0 lead in the fourth inning with his first home run of the game off Wylan Moss. UCLA tied the score in the bottom of the frame on a solo homer from Roman Martin.

The Bruins took a 2-1 lead in the fifth after Saint Mary’s starter John Damozonio gave up a leadoff single to Trey Gudoy and walked Dean West. Cholowsky then drove Gudoy in with a sacrifice fly.

The Gaels then tied the score 2-2 in the top of the sixth on an RBI double from Makoa Sniffen. Moss walked Tanner Griffith to lead off the frame and was replaced by Landon Stump. On a one-ball, one-strike count, Sniffen hit a line drive down the first-base line.

Damozonio pitched seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits with six strikeouts. Staton got the win in relief with two scoreless innings, giving up just one hit. Hawk took the loss for UCLA after coming into the NCAA tournament with a 1.81 ERA, 14 saves and a strikeout rate of 11 per nine innings.

In the double-elimination regional round, the No. 1 Bruins have not yet been eliminated. But they will have to defeat their next opponent to stay alive in the tournament on their home field. On Saturday, UCLA will face the loser of Friday night’s matchup between No. 2 Virginia Tech and No. 3 Cal Poly.