The opening day of the 2026 NCAA baseball tournament delivered historic wins, multiple individual three-run homer games and pitching duels for the ages — some moments worthy of programs and players talking about for decades to come.
The craziness included four No. 4 seeds upsetting No. 1 seeds for the second straight year, two 14-inning marathons and more.
Here's the big storylines from the wild day.
Saint Mary’s makes history, stuns No. 1 overall seed UCLA
Saint Mary’s ripped into the Opening Day headlines of the 2025 NCAA tournament regionals, taking down top seed Oregon State, 6-4, for its first tournament win ever.
363 days later, they are front and center again, but this time, making even bigger history.
They shocked No. 1 national seed UCLA, college baseball’s wire-to-wire No. 1 team throughout the regular season, beating the Bruins 3-2.
It is the first time in tournament history since the current format was implemented in 1999 that the No. 1 national seed lost its opening game of the regional round, and the Gaels became the second team ever to win back-to-back regional openers against a national seed.
And all it took was just one swing of the bat.
Knotted up at 2-2 in the ninth of the pitcher’s duel, Jacob Johnson launched his second home run of the game, this one just inches over the right field wall, against Bruins closer Easton Hawk. It was Hawk’s first run given up in his last 26 appearances.
JJ HOMERS FOR THE LEAD!! 🔥🔥
— Saint Mary's Baseball (@SMC_Baseball)
Jacob Johnson homers for the second time today and the Gaels have the lead! Catch the ending on ESPN 🖥️⚾️
However, the Gaels weren’t out of the woods just yet. UCLA has arguably been the best team in the nation when down with 26 comeback wins on the season — three in the Big Ten tournament.
That wasn’t in the cards, though, as Saint Mary’s Cam Stanton shut the door, retiring three straight Bruins after allowing a hit, including star Roch Cholowsky, to end the game
How other No. 1 seeds fell
The Panthers put on an offensive clinic to win its first NCAA tournament game in 27 years in a 13-8 upset victory over No. 4 Auburn.
Milwaukee struck first, taking a 4-0 in the first inning, which grew to a 10-0 lead in the fourth. Auburn chipped away, but a weather delay, some rain and a wet surface couldn't slow down the Panthers. Milwaukee's 13 runs were the most it has ever scored in an NCAA tournament game. The contributions came from throughout their lineup, as eight players recorded at least one hit and seven with at least one RBI.
The Tigers will face the winner of UCF-NC State, which will be decided Saturday after being postponed due to inclement weather.
Little Rock 7, No. 9 Southern Miss 4
Little Rock was the first four seed to land the first hit, scoring four runs in the ninth inning to take down No. 9 Southern Miss, 7-4.
The Trojans tied up the game on a wild pitch and pulled ahead on an RBI single from Nolan Freund. Blake Simpson put the nail in the coffin, sending a two-run homer to right center and help hand Little Rock the victory.
Southern Miss will play Virginia in the elimination bracket, one of two one-two seed matchups in the loser's bracket of the tournament.
St. John’s 6, No. 10 Florida State 5
St. John’s climbed back to stun No. 10 Florida State, 6-5, putting four runs across in the final two innings while shutting out the Seminoles. It marks the Red Storm’s first regional win in an opener since 2012.
FSU was in the driver’s seat for most of the affair, scoring first, answering whenever St. John’s plated a run and led 5-2 heading into the eighth. But that momentum swung fully into the Red Storm’s favor from there, cutting the deficit to two following Dylan Fitzsimmons’ solo home run and tying it on two passed balls. They broke the tie in the ninth on Jayder Raifstanger’s RBI single to center.
The Seminoles put themselves in good position to knot it back up with runners on first and second with one out, but St. John's secured the win on a game-ending double play.
East Carolina survives 14-inning marathon over Tennessee
An instant classic transpired in Chapel Hill on Friday afternoon, featuring two-seed Tennessee and three-seed East Carolina’s historic 14 inning duel.
With over 400 pitches thrown and 10 runs scored, the matchup was the perfect balance of a pitcher’s duel and offensive juice.
Tied 1-1 entering the ninth, ECU’s Davin Whitaker hammered a solo home run on the first pitch of the inning. The Volunteers were down to their final out and facing Pirates star left-hander Ethan Norby, but Henry Ford answered the call, crushing a solo blast to left field, sending the game to extras.
And from there, neither team let up. Each scored a run in the 13th.
The 14th is when East Carolina prevailed, producing another no-doubter to start the inning by Walker Barron along with Braden Burress’ RBI single and Colby Wallace RBI double to the left side of the field.
WALK DAWG MOONSHOT💣
— ECU Baseball (@ECUBaseball)
By the time the damage was done, the Pirates trotted into the bottom half of the inning up 7-3 and slammed the door shut. It was the longest NCAA tournament game in ECU history.
Ole Miss walks off Arizona State in 14 innings
Ole Miss walked off Arizona State, 7-6, in the second 14-inning thriller of the day.
Neither team budged as the contest trekked deeper into the night, specifically the pitching staffs. The two teams were tied 6-6 headed into the bottom half of the sixth and remained that way for the next six innings.
The Rebels’ Luke Romine and Tristan Bissetta walked to begin the 14th, followed by Hayden Federico’s single to second. Brayden Randle won it on the first pitch he saw, driving a hard ground ball through the infield. ;
Brendan Lawson saves Florida with walk-off homer
The eighth inning changed everything in No. 8 Florida-Rider.
Heading into the final two innings, the Gators were headed toward cruise control, if they weren’t already there. They led 4-0 and had given up just three hits.
But the Broncs erased that deficit in the blink of an eye, exploding for six runs all with two outs. Anthony Paskell lifted Rider back into the game with a grand slam, and Nick Shuhet put them in the driver’s seat with a two-run blast to center.
Florida now trailed 6-4 with six outs to work with.
That turned out to be enough wiggle room for UF, taking back the lead with three runs in the eighth. Rider tied it up again in the ninth with a solo homer, setting the table for the second extra innings matchup of the regionals.
Brendan Lawson had other plans, though, crushing a walk-off homer over the center field wall, his 17th of the season — and the Gators first walk-off homer in the tournament since 2018.
The sophomore sensation lit up Condron ballpark, racing around the bases while being met at home plate by his teammates and ice shower.
B-LAW CALLED BALLGAME 🗣️🧑⚖️
— Florida Gators Baseball (@GatorsBB)
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