Wake Forest Wasn't Alone: Friday's NCAA Regional Scores Featured Several Surprises
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.
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 vs (3) Cal Poly
Atlanta Regional
(1) #2 Georgia Tech 22 - (4) Illinois-Chicago 5
(2) Oklahoma vs. (3) The Citadel
Athens Regional
(2) Boston College 3 - (3) Liberty 4
(1) #3 Georgia vs. (4) Long Island
Auburn Regional
(1) #4 Auburn 8 - (4) Milwaukee 13
(2) UCF vs. (3) NC State
Chapel Hill Regional
(2) Tennessee 3 - (3) East Carolina 7 (14 innings)
(1) #5 North Carolina vs. (4) Virginia Commonwealth
Austin Regional
(1) #6 Texas 19 - (4) Holy Cross 1
(2) UC Santa Barbara vs. (3) Tarleton State
Tuscaloosa Regional
(2) Oklahoma State 5 - (3) USC-Update 8
(1) #7 Alabama vs. (4) Alabama State
Gainesville Regional
(1) #8 Florida 8 - (4) Rider 7
(2) Miami vs. (3) Troy)
Hattiesburg Regional
(1) #9 Southern Miss 4 - (4) Little Rock 7
(2) Virginia vs. (3) Jacksonville State
Tallahassee Regional
(1) #10 Florida State vs. (4) St. John's
(2) Coastal Carolina vs. (3) Northern Illinois
Eugene Regional
(2) Oregon State 2 - (3) Washington State 3
(1) #11 Oregon vs. (4) Yale
College Station Regional
(1) #12 Texas A&M vs. (4) Lamar
(2) USC vs. (3) Texas State
Lincoln Regional
(1) #13 Nebraska vs. (4) South Dakota State
(2) Ole Miss vs. (3) Arizona State
Starkville Regional
(1) #14 Mississippi State 10 - (4) Lipscomb 1
(2) Cincinnati vs. (3) Louisiana
Lawrence Regional
(1) #15 Kansas 6 - (4) Northeastern 3
(2) Arkansas vs. (3) Missouri State
Morgantown Regional
(2) Wake Forest 5 - (3) Kentucky (6)
(1) #16 West Virginia vs. (4) Binghamton
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 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.