Saint Mary's Defeats UCLA 6-5 in 10 Innings, Eliminating Top Seed From NCAA Tournament

Makoa Sniffen's run-scoring single in the 10th inning gave Saint Mary's a 6-5 victory over UCLA on June 1, 2026, in Los Angeles, eliminating the top-seeded Bruins from the NCAA baseball tournament. UCLA entered the weekend with a 51-6 record and had won the Big Ten tournament title the previous week with a victory over Oregon.

The Bruins went 1-2 at Jackie Robinson Stadium and needed a late rally against Virginia Tech on Saturday to force Sunday's elimination game.

Saint Mary's trailed for most of the game before Ian Armstrong tied the score with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth. Cody Kashimoto went 2-for-4, singled with one out in the 10th, and scored the winning run on Sniffen's hit. Armstrong finished 3-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs.

Tanner Griffith had three hits and one RBI. Diego Castellanos went 2-for-3 with one RBI. "That's a tough clubhouse to leave. Those guys have been such wonderful Bruins, teammates, and guys to coach," UCLA coach John Savage said.

"They've won over 100 games in the last two years. No one in the country's done that. " Savage added that Saint Mary's played well and that the Bruins did not get it done. He said the team would tip its hat to the players in the clubhouse.

Hours later the Gaels lost to Cal Poly 5-2, ending their season. Cal Poly finished the day at 39-22 and advanced to the NCAA super regionals. UCLA joined the 2025 Vanderbilt Commodores as top national seeds that failed to reach their regional final.

ESPN Insights reported that before 2025 no No. 1 seed had ever failed to advance that far, and this marks the second such occurrence in two tournaments. "We didn't play well enough this weekend," Savage said.

"Saint Mary's, to their credit, I thought played very well. They've got good players, good coaches. " "Feels like 12 rounds with the heavyweight champion of the world," Saint Mary's coach Eric Valenzuela said.

"So proud of our group, their fight.