Top overall seed UCLA was eliminated from regional play by Saint Mary’s after dropping Sunday’s elimination game 6-5 in extra innings.
Two days earlier, the Bruins gave up a run in the ninth and lost 3-2 to the Gaels in the regional opener.
UCLA had been the nation’s most clutch team all season, winning 30 games in come-from-behind fashion — including Saturday’s 6-5 walk-off win against Virginia Tech to stave off an even earlier elimination.
Joining UCLA with a flop in regional play was No. 2 Georgia Tech.
The Yellow Jackets won two in a row out of the gate, including a 9-3 win against Oklahoma, before suffering back-to-back losses to the Sooners.
Five other regional seeds were knocked out: No. 8 Florida, No. 9 Southern Mississippi, No. 10 Florida State, No. 12 Texas A&M and No. 13 Nebraska.
No. 4 Seeds Make History
Arkansas-Little Rock and St. John’s became the 11th and 12th No. 4 seeds to reach the super regionals.
The Trojans topped host Southern Mississippi on Friday and then scored two wins against Jacksonville State, while the Red Storm toppled host Florida State twice, including the final game of the regional.
After sweeping through Hattiesburg, Little Rock will face another underdog in Troy, which captured the Gainesville regional with Monday’s 10-2 win against No. 8 Florida.
The Red Storm will meet No. 7 Alabama.
This is the first time two No. 4 seeds have reached the super regionals in the same season and the fourth year in a row at least one has done so, following Murray State (2025), Evansville (2024) and Oral Roberts (2023).
The other seven No. 4 seeds to do so are South Florida (2021), Davidson (2017), VCU (2015), College of Charleston (2014), Stony Brook (2012), Fresno State (2008) and Missouri (2006).
Four have gone on to make the World Series: Murray State, Oral Roberts, Stony Brook and Fresno State, with the latter the only No. 4 to win the national championship.
The No. 16 Mountaineers beat Binghamton 10-1 in the regional opener but had their backs to the wall after Saturday’s 11-9 loss to Kentucky.
Getting out of this spot required a ninth-inning rally in Sunday’s rematch against the Wildcats.
Down 9-6, the Mountaineers scored on a walk, a sacrifice fly and a balk to tie the game before walking things off with a two-run homer.
On Monday, WVU beat Kentucky 6-5 on an RBI single in the bottom of the 10th.
The Mountaineers will next host Cal Poly, the surprising winners of the Los Angeles regional.
Regional Highlights and Power Performances
The Chapel Hill regional was seen as one of the deepest and most challenging bubbles of the weekend, but North Carolina made things look easy.
While they were able to avoid Tennessee, which went two-and-out against East Carolina and Virginia Commonwealth, the Tar Heels skunked the Rams on Friday and then beat ECU 7-5 and 9-3 to make the super regionals for the third year in a row.
One of the standouts of the weekend was freshman left-hander Jackson Rose, who pitched four hitless innings in relief to assist the win in the second matchup against the Pirates.
No. 11 Oregon won the rivalry-loaded Eugene regional by crushing Yale 14-2 in the opener, blanking Washington State 4-0 on Saturday and then taking down Oregon State 4-1 on Sunday.
While the longball carried the Ducks during the regular season, the regional was won with pitching, defense and a patient approach at the plate.
This was evident during the three-run seventh inning to put away the Beavers that saw Oregon score on two bases-loaded walks and a fielder’s choice.
The Ducks next head to Austin to take on No. 6 Texas.
UCLA joins Vanderbilt last year as the only top seeds in tournament history to fail to at least reach their regional final.
This was a what-if collapse that saw the Bruins cough up leads in their two losses to Saint Mary’s, undercutting the team’s late-game heroics during the regular season.
The projected top pick in this year’s MLB draft, shortstop Roch Cholowsky, went 2 for 12 in the regional with two strikeouts, one walk, one RBI and two runs scored.
It is a disappointing end for an outstanding season that included a 52-8 record and Big Ten titles in the regular season and tournament.
Tech seemed ready to sail into super regionals after beating Illinois-Chicago 22-5 and Oklahoma 9-3 to reach the regional final.
Then the wheels came off: Oklahoma pounded out 18 hits in a 15-8 win to force Monday’s elimination game and then broke the Jackets’ hearts with an epic comeback from a 7-2 hole.
Down by five runs after six innings, the Sooners scored two in the seventh, one in the eighth and then another run in the ninth to force extras.
Leading off the bottom of the 10th against Tech’s ace, Tate McKee, Sooner senior Dalton Tockey hammered a 3-2 pitch over 450 feet into dead center for the walk-off win.
The No. 13 Cornhuskers were unable to advance through a loaded group after sneaking past South Dakota State 4-1 in the opener.
They subsequently lost 6-3 to eventual regional winner Mississippi and 11-8 to Arizona State in Sunday’s elimination game.
Nebraska finished second in the Big Ten behind UCLA, won 42 games and went 23-1 at home during the regular season, and was named a regional host for the first time since 2008.
For the first time ever, none of the eight teams in the previous season’s World Series advanced to the super regionals.
Four missed the tournament entirely in Arizona, defending champion LSU, Louisville and Murray State, while UCLA, Coastal Carolina, Arkansas and Oregon State failed to get out of the weekend.
