Hokie ClubLOS ANGELES – On the brink of one of the NCAA tournament’s greatest all-time upsets on Saturday, the second-seeded Virginia Tech baseball team let its 5-3 lead against top-seeded [No. 1] UCLA slip during the bottom of the ninth inning as the Hokies were walked off and eliminated, 6-5, at the 2026 NCAA Los Angeles Regional at Jackie Robinson Stadium.
Virginia Tech (30-26) routinely willed itself back into contention with a string of solo home runs hit by Owen Petrich (fifth inning), Ethan Gibson (seventh) and Ethan Ball (eighth). Petrich’s homer answered the Bruins’ two-run fourth inning, tying the game at 2-2; Gibson’s leveled the score at 3-3 while Ball’s delivered the Hokies a 4-3 lead with six defensive outs left to be claimed.
After Griffin Stieg and Madden Clement had united to blank UCLA (52-7) during the bottom of the eighth inning, Gibson led off the ninth inning with a double into right field, setting the table for Virginia Tech to pocket a key insurance run. During the ensuing at-bat, Hudson Lutterman knocked a 3-1 pitch by Easton Hawk over the head of first baseman Mulivai Levu for an RBI single, presenting the Hokies with the game’s largest lead held by either team.
However, Virginia Tech’s 5-3 lead evaporated in an instant when UCLA’s three- and four-hitters – Levu and Roman Martin – led off the bottom of the ninth inning with a pair of game-tying solo home runs off Clement. With reliever Ethan Grim inserted onto the mound, the Bruins rallied for three hits, including Phoenix Call’s walk-off RBI single through the Hokies’ five-man infield.
Junior right-hander Brett Renfrow started and opened with three scoreless innings for Virginia Tech, completing four innings of work before exiting after 94 pitches thrown. Renfrow allowed two runs on five hits, though issued four walks, departing after UCLA had hung two runs on the board during the bottom of the fourth inning.