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Wake Forest Wasn't Alone: Friday's NCAA Regional Scores Featured Several Surprises

The Demon Deacons weren't the only team to suffer a tough opening-day loss as the NCAA Tournament got off to a chaotic start Friday, highlighted by Milwaukee's upset of No. 4 national seed Auburn.
Barry Lewis|
Wake Forest Third Baseman Dalton Wentz celebrates after hitting the game tying home run in the bottom of the 8th inning in the Morgantown Regional game against Kentucky.
Wake Forest Third Baseman Dalton Wentz celebrates after hitting the game tying home run in the bottom of the 8th inning in the Morgantown Regional game against Kentucky. | Wake Forest Athletics

Move over, March Madness. The NCAA Baseball Tournament is creating its own level of "madness" with Friday's games.

The Wake Forest Demon Deacons lost a tough one on Friday, 6-5, to Kentucky in the Morgantown Regional. The Deacs, though, were not the only ones to to lose a heartbreaker.

Other 2 seeds, Tennessee in the Chapel Hill Regional and Boston College in the Athens Regional, also lost their first games. No. 8 national seed Florida had to come from behind to beat the 4-seed Rider in Gainesville. And in the afternoon games, three other national seeds lost on their home diamonds. No. 9 Southern Miss lost 7-4 to Little Rock. The biggest shock of the afternoon was not Milwaukee defeating No. 4 Auburn 13-8; instead, it was St. Mary's defeating No. 1 UCLA 3-2.

Chaos Comes Calling

The upsets were unending on Friday, with several 4-seeds defeating 1-seeds and even more 3-seeds defeating 2-seeds.

4-seeds Over 1-seeds

  • St. Mary's beat No. 1 UCLA (Los Angeles Regional)
  • Milwaukee beat No. 4 Auburn (Auburn Regional)
  • Little Rock beat No. 9 Southern Miss (Hattiesburg Regional)
  • St. John's beat No. 10 Florida State (Tallahassee Regional)

3-seeds Over 2-seeds

  • Cal Poly beat Virginia Tech (Los Angeles Regional)
  • Liberty beat Boston College (Athens Regional)
  • East Carolina beat Tennessee (14 innings) (Chapel Hill Regional
  • Tarleton beat UC Santa Barbara (Austin Regional)
  • USC Upstate beat Oklahoma State (Tuscaloosa Regional)
  • Jacksonville State beat Virginia (Hattiesburg Regional)
  • Northern Illinois beat Coastal Carolina (Tallahassee Regional)
  • Washington State beat Oregon State (Eugene Regional)
  • Texas State beat USC (College Station Regional)
  • Kentucky beat Wake Forest (Morgantown Regional)

Regionals Without a Friday Upset

  • Gainesville Regional
  • Lawrence Regional
  • Lincoln Regional
  • Starkville Regional

Here are the results of Friday’s first-round games:
(Teams in bold won their game; this article will be updated as games go final)

2026 NCAA Baseball Tournament – Regionals Results – Friday’s Games

Los Angeles Regional

(1) #1 UCLA 2 - (4) Saint Mary's 3
(2) Virginia Tech 2 - (3) Cal Poly 6

Atlanta Regional

(1) #2 Georgia Tech 22 - (4) Illinois-Chicago 5
(2) Oklahoma vs. (3) The Citadel - weather delayed; game moved to Saturday

Athens Regional

(2) Boston College 3 - (3) Liberty 4
(1) #3 Georgia vs. (4) Long Island - weather delayed; game resumes on Saturday

Auburn Regional

(1) #4 Auburn 8 - (4) Milwaukee 13
(2) UCF vs. (3) NC State - weather delayed; game resumes on Saturday

Chapel Hill Regional

(2) Tennessee 3 - (3) East Carolina 7 (14 innings)
(1) #5 North Carolina 8 - (4) Virginia Commonwealth 0

Austin Regional

(1) #6 Texas 19 - (4) Holy Cross 1
(2) UC Santa Barbara 5 -(3) Tarleton 11

Tuscaloosa Regional

(2) Oklahoma State 5 - (3) USC-Upstate 8
(1) #7 Alabama 21 - (4) Alabama State 3

Gainesville Regional

(1) #8 Florida 8 - (4) Rider 7
(2) Miami 10 - (3) Troy) 5

Hattiesburg Regional

(1) #9 Southern Miss 4 - (4) Little Rock 7
(2) Virginia 7 - (3) Jacksonville State 15

Tallahassee Regional

(1) #10 Florida State 5 - (4) St. John's 6
(2) Coastal Carolina 10 - (3) Northern Illinois 12

Eugene Regional

(2) Oregon State 2 - (3) Washington State 3
(1) #11 Oregon 14 - (4) Yale 2

College Station Regional

(1) #12 Texas A&M 7 - (4) Lamar 5
(2) USC 4 - (3) Texas State 5

Lincoln Regional

(1) #13 Nebraska 4 -(4) South Dakota State 1
(2) Ole Miss 7 - (3) Arizona State 6 (14 innings)

Starkville Regional

(1) #14 Mississippi State 10 - (4) Lipscomb 1
(2) Cincinnati 12 - (3) Louisiana 2

Lawrence Regional

(1) #15 Kansas 6 - (4) Northeastern 3
(2) Arkansas 9 - (3) Missouri State 5

Morgantown Regional

(2) Wake Forest 5 - (3) Kentucky (6)
(1) #16 West Virginia 10 - (4) Binghamton 1

What's Next for Wake Forest Baseball

The Deacs fall to the losers' bracket of the Morgantown Regional. They will play an elimination game on Saturday, May 30, at 12 pm ET against the loser of the West Virginia/Binghamton game. It can be seen on the ESPN networks, most likely ESPN+.

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Barry Lewis
BARRY LEWIS

Barry is the managing editor/publisher of Wake Forest Demon Deacons On SI sites. He oversees a team of 12+ writers and photographers covering all sports at Wake Forest. He writes on football, basketball (men’s and women’s), baseball, men’s tennis, and other sports as needed. His weekly articles include ACC Power Rankings and Poll Watching during the football, basketball, and baseball seasons. Barry is a member of the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA), U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA), and National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). He has covered the 2022 Fiesta Bowl, the 2023 College Football National Championship, the 2023 College World Series, the 2024 NCAA Men’s Tennis National Championship, ACC Kickoff, and ACC Tipoff. He is an avid sports fan and traveler, and he loves any opportunity to see a sporting event in person. He has been to 18 of the 30 MLB ballparks, experienced game day at 25 college football stadiums, seen 21 NFL stadiums, and been to 16 bowl games.

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