No. 1 UCLA (51-8) 6, No. 2 Virginia Tech (30-26) 5 – Two outs away from being the first national No. 1 seed to go 0-2 and exit the tournament, the Bruins got back-to-back homers to tie the game in the bottom of the ninth and then an RBI single from Phoenix Call that scored Will Gasparino with the game-winner to survive and advance to tomorrow morning’s game.
The Bruins got two runs in the second when Cashel Dugger homered on the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the fourth, and Jarrod Hocking doubled home Call to get UCLA a 2-1 lead.
After trading solo homers for two innings, Hudson Lutterman’s eighth inning single scored Ethan Gibson for a 5-3 Virginia Tech lead.
But up came the Bruins in the bottom of the ninth, and for the fourth time in five games, the Bruins won in their last at-bat.
Fittingly, Mulivai Levu, who had two game-winning hits for UCLA at the Big Ten tournament, hit the first of back-to-back homers with Roman Martin following him to tie the game. Four batters later, Call, who was hit by a pitch to push the winning run across in the Big Ten championship game last weekend, singled home Gasparino with the winning run, keeping the Bruins alive for another day.
No. 2 Virginia (37-22) 15, No. 1 Southern Miss. (44-17) 11 (10 Innings) – AJ Gracia went 5-for-6 with five RBIs, and Joe Tiroly went 1-for-5, scored twice, and clubbed a grand slam as the Cavaliers eliminated regional host Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg.
With the game tied at 11 in extra innings, Zach Jackson singled home Tiroly and Harrison Didawick to give the Hoos the lead, and Jackson followed with a two-run homer to give Virginia a four-run cushion that held.
This marked the third straight year that the Golden Eagles were bounced from the tournament in the regionals and the first time they’d gone 0-2 at an NCAA Regional since 2011, when they lost to Mississippi State and Georgia Tech consecutively at the Atlanta regional.
No. 1 Auburn (39-19) 17, No. 3 NC State (32-24) 13 – Auburn jumped out to an 8-0 lead in the top of the first, extended it to 10-0 in the top of the second, and then hung on the rest of the way to survive to play on Sunday.
Chase Fralick went 2-for-6 with a three-run homer and six RBIs, Ehtin Bingamin hit two solo homers, and Cade Belyeu went 3-for-5 with a pair of homers and five RBIs for Auburn as the Tigers avoided elimination.
The game marked Elliott Avent’s finale as NC State’s head coach after 30 seasons, and he didn’t leave particularly happy: in the bottom of the ninth, Christian Serrano was called out on strikes when he was called for a pitch clock violation for strike three. Avent vehemently disagreed with the home plate umpire to no avail.
No. 1 Florida St. (38-18) 2, No. 2 Coastal Carolina (37-22) 1 – Game Suspended – Rain Delay, Top of the Sixth Inning.
Photo: UCLAs’ Phoenix Call flips his bat after a walkout single against Virginia Tech in the NCAA Division 1 Baseball Championship game on Saturday, May 30, 2026, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/John McCoy)
