Saint Mary's sends nation's No. 1 team packing, but loses to Big West champs

Saint Mary's sent the nation's top-ranked team packing, but could not slow down the Big West tournament champions.

The Gaels earned a heart-stopping 6-5 win over No. 1 UCLA in a Los Angeles Regional elimination game on Sunday afternoon, but later saw their season come to an end with a 5-2 loss to Cal Poly at Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Saint Mary's led Cal Poly 2-0 after four innings but allowed one run in the fifth and four more in the sixth, as the Gaels lost to the Mustangs for the second straight day. Cal Poly also beat Saint Mary's 14-1 late Saturday.

Cal Poly freshman infielder Gavin Spiridonoff hit a three-run homer Sunday as part of the decisive sixth inning rally. Left-handed starting pitcher Josh Volmerding struck out seven over six innings, helping Cal Poly advance to next week's Super Regionals against either Kentucky or West Virginia.

Cal Poly (39-22) beat UC San Diego 4-3 in the Big West championship game on May 24.

Saint Mary's (36-27) would have needed to beat Cal Poly on Sunday night and on Monday to advance.

In the loss, Gaels outfielder Tanner Griffith, a Livermore native and De La Salle High alum, went 3-for-3, and infielder Makoa Sniffen and shortstop Jared Mettam each had an RBI. Sniffen is an Archbishop Mitty grad, and Mettam is from Half Moon Bay.

Against UCLA, a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the 10th inning by Sniffen off UCLA reliever Easton Hawk scored Cody Kashimoto from second base to give Saint Mary's a walk-off win.

Saint Mary's also beat UCLA 3-2 in a regional opener on Friday, as the Big Ten champion Bruins (53-8) became just the second NCAA No. 1 overall seed to be eliminated during the regional round since the current format was established in 1999. Last year's Vanderbilt team was the other.

Saint Mary's trailed 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth inning Sunday before putting together a game-tying rally.

With two outs and Griffith in scoring position, Gaels catcher Ian Armstrong chopped a game-tying RBI single to right field. Hawk issued two walks to load the bases, but got Mettam to ground out to third to end the threat.

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This story was originally published May 31, 2026 at 10:34 PM.