Just like that, the favorite to win the national championship is done.
UCLA once again couldn’t handle Saint Mary’s, losing in walk-off fashion to the upstart Gaels. The Bruins lost just six games in the regular season. They went wire-to-wire as the No. 1 team in the nation. And yet, when it mattered most, the Bruins weren’t even the best team in California.
It’s easy to wonder if people should have seen this coming. UCLA made things seem so easy for much of the spring, but the Big Ten isn’t a top baseball conference outside of the western teams. Did that make the Bruins’ record a mirage?
Honestly, probably not. It’s worth looking back now on how UCLA struggled with in-state foes besides USC, but that’s all it is. The Bruins weren’t just a product of their schedule. They played three SEC foes in Texas in February, including regional hosts Mississippi State and Texas A&M. They won all three. They also won two of three from Oregon, which won its regional.
UCLA’s problem is that its hitters didn’t produce. When you have the projected No. 1 overall pick, he’s got to hit better than 2-for-12. Roch Cholowsky didn’t play like a top pick this weekend and the rest of the bats never woke up. UCLA built itself around great pitching, but when it lost its top starter, it had no margin for error. It had to have timely hitting to advance.
The Bruins never got it, and that’s why they’re out. It doesn’t mean they weren’t a strong team. It means they didn’t play well when they needed to.
Here’s a glimpse around Day 3.
Seminoles, Storms Take Down Coastal
Coastal Carolina has had a fascinating two years playing regionals against Florida schools. In 2025, the Chanticleers got to host Florida, leading to an ugly exchange between Coastal coach Kevin Schnall and Florida coach Kevin O’Sullivan. Specifically, O’Sullivan was angry that Florida’s games were pushed back to allow for extended recovery time after previous games had run long.
Schnall pushed back, defending his administration and the decisions they made. But in 2026, he found himself on the other end of that situation.
Coastal landed in Florida State’s regional, where large thunderstorms in Tallahassee forced massive changes to the schedule. The Chanticleers’ Saturday game with the Seminoles got delayed, then suspended and was ultimately finished Sunday. Florida State claimed a 2-1 win, and Schnall complained about the start and end times for his team’s games.
Given what happened last year, his complaints rang hollow. For one thing, because of Florida’s experience at Coastal, NCAA rules now mandate 12 hours between games if a game ends after 1 a.m. local time. For another, Schnall bizarrely said that Florida State had been able to wash and dry its uniforms, while Coastal had not.
Florida State couldn't control the weather. They followed protocols with timing, and if laundry facilities weren’t available, Coastal could have gone to a laundromat and billed the NCAA. It came off as frustration with the end of the season. While that’s excusable, insinuating that Florida State was in the wrong made as little sense as Florida blaming Coastal last year.
Little Rock, Cal Poly, Kansas Make History
A year ago, Little Rock came one game short of taking down LSU, which went on to win the national title. Jump forward to the present, where saddled with another No. 4 seed, the Trojans took care of business.
Little Rock swept the Hattiesburg Regional, beating Jacksonville State for the second time to earn its spot in the Super Regionals. Even more impressive, the Trojans won all three games by at least two runs.
It might not have happened if not for some ninth-inning heroics on Day 1 against Southern Mississippi. Little Rock entered the ninth down a run, but came up with four in the frame to take the lead and ultimately upset the favored Golden Eagles. That gave the Trojans the flexibility they needed to manage the regional and reach their first Super Regional in program history.
Cal Poly also earned its first trip to Super Regionals by taking down Saint Mary’s. The Mustangs became the biggest beneficiary of UCLA’s issues, as they got to face the worn-down Gaels twice. The Mustangs’ hitters did what the Bruins could not, tagging Saint Mary’s with a 14-1 win on Saturday and a 5-2 win on Sunday.
Even more remarkably, Cal Poly has a chance to host its Super Regional. The Los Angeles Regional is slotted to play the winner of the Morgantown Regional, where No. 3 seed Kentucky is still alive. If the Wildcats beat West Virginia, the NCAA would decide which of the No. 3 seeds would get to host.
There’s a third Super Regional debutante, and it’s one from a power conference. In 2025, Kansas ended an 11-year absence from the NCAA baseball tournament, going two-and-out at Arkansas. This weekend, the Jayhawks hosted the Razorbacks and took advantage, beating Arkansas twice to reach their first Super Regional. If Oklahoma can upset Georgia Tech, the Jayhawks would host the series.
SEC Crushing It
There’s a reason the SEC got 12 bids into the tournament: it’s just that deep. It’s the same reason the past six national titles have gone to the league, and why LSU can go from national champs to 14th in the league this season. There are no easy outs in the SEC, and the conference keeps proving itself every summer.
After Sunday, five SEC teams (Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, Mississippi State and Texas) had clinched a spot in the Super Regional. Auburn, Florida, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Texas A&M remained alive going into Monday, meaning there could be 10 SEC squads out of 16 in Supers.
Out of 12 SEC teams, only Tennessee failed to win a game, and only the Volunteers and Arkansas didn’t at least make it to a deciding game. It’s another impressive showing from a league that continues to dominate the sport.
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