This post was updated May 29 at 4:50 p.m.
It seemed like the Gaels came to Jackie Robinson Stadium looking for a boxing match Friday, with Mike Tyson stickers decorating their batting helmets.
So, maybe unsurprisingly, it was a back-and-forth affair that opened the Los Angeles Regional.
UCLA baseball (51-7, 28-2 Big Ten) reviewed a harsh lesson in its NCAA tournament opener – everyone has a plan until they get punched in the face.
LA Regional No. 4 seed Saint Mary’s (34-25, 15-12 WCC) rocked the tournament’s No. 1 overall seed – the first team to ever go the entire regular season as the No. 1 team in the country – 3-2.
It was the first time a No. 1 overall seed has been upset in its regional opener, according to ESPN.
UCLA, now with its back against the wall, will face the loser of Friday’s contest between Cal Poly and Virginia Tech on Saturday at 1 p.m.
“When you lose the first game, it’s all hands on deck,” said coach John Savage. “We will need everybody to get this thing done.”
The fight appeared evenly matched for much of the afternoon.
St. Mary’s came with a jab – Gael designated hitter Jacob Johnson slugs a solo shot in the top of the fourth.
UCLA responded with a cross – junior third baseman Roman Martin slugs a solo home run of his own.
Then dealt another blow – junior shortstop Roch Cholowsky’s sac fly gives the Bruins a 2-1 lead.
But the Gaels struck back – first baseman Makoa Sniffen’s RBI double ties the game in the sixth.
And then the haymaker was finally dealt – Johnson sent his second home run of the game over the wall in the top of the ninth.
“Johnson really was the difference in the game,” Savage said. “Two solo home runs (and) we just didn’t do enough offensively to put ourselves in position to create runs at the end of the day.”
Possibly playing into Friday’s outcome, the Bruins were without their biggest – and perhaps hardest – hitter, junior center fielder Will Gasparino, who served his one-game suspension following his ejection from Sunday’s Big Ten championship.
Coach John Savage said Thursday that junior utility Phoenix Call would get the start in center, but Friday, it was redshirt junior Payton Brennan who trotted out to the position in the first inning.
But in the fourth, Brennan pulled up after beating the throw to first on a bunt single and – after the outfielder failed to beat out a force out at second – was removed from the ballgame, continuing the Bruins’ game of musical chairs.
Call moved from his regular position, second base, to center, and sophomore infielder David Mysza replaced Brennan’s spot in the order.
But when the left-handed hitting Mysza was due to face St. Mary southpaw Cam Staton, the Bruins gave a bat to freshman designated hitter Dominic Cadiz, before sending sophomore Kasen Khansarinia – a converted catcher who has only appeared behind the plate this season – to man second.
Mysza and Cadiz combined to go 0-for-2 and Call went 1-for-2 with two sacrifice bunts – his only hit a leadoff single in the ninth.
While the Bruins and Gaels each had six hits Friday, the former left nine runners on base to the latter’s five.
UCLA went 0-for-15 with runners on base and 0-for-2 with runners in scoring position – in part because of St. Mary’s left-hander John Damozonio, who tossed seven innings of two-run ball, striking out six.
“Damozonio was unbelievable,” said St. Mary’s coach Eric Valenzuela. “He was dealing with a little forearm issue, and we sat him out for two weeks just to make sure he was good and healthy and took care of himself – and we wouldn’t be in this position if it wasn’t for him.”
Savage added that Brennan had sustained an oblique injury and freshman second baseman Aidan Aguayo – who would have gotten the start Friday – rolled his ankle before the game.
With junior right-handed ace Logan Reddemann missing his sixth start because of arm fatigue, sophomore right-hander Wylan Moss got the ball and tossed five innings, allowing two runs.
Savage successfully handed the ball off from Moss to junior right-hander Landon Stump, junior right-hander Cal Randall and freshman right-hander Zach Strickland, who each tossed a scoreless frame.
But the Bruins’ misstep came after sending sophomore closer Easton Hawk to the mound with the game tied in the ninth.
Johnson’s homer was just the fourth Hawk has allowed this season and the first since March 1.
The Bruins – coming off three-straight walk-off victories that earned them the Big Ten Tournament title last week – seemed to have exactly who they would want batting with two outs in the ninth: Roch Cholowsky, who has probably been projected as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 MLB Draft for about a year.
But the junior shortstop flew out with the tying run at first, concluding the day 0-for-4.
“We’ve been through a lot as a core,” said junior catcher Cashel Dugger. “Only winning 19 games my freshman year, and having success last year, so we’ve kind of been on both sides of it. We know how to lose, and we know what it takes to respond.”
