Walk-off balk? 51 runs? Ten astounding box scores …
After several months and thousands of regular-season and conference tournament games, the 2026 NCAA baseball tournament is finally here, beginning Friday, with the selection show for the full field set to be held at 12pm Monday on ESPN2. Few sports can blend on-field action and off-field entertainment quite like college baseball. And between the overabundance…
After several months and thousands of regular-season and conference tournament games, the 2026 NCAA baseball tournament is finally here, beginning Friday, with the selection show for the full field set to be held at 12pm Monday on ESPN2.
Few sports can blend on-field action and off-field entertainment quite like college baseball. And between the overabundance of teams and games, things can get … a little wacky at times.
Games can morph into hitting onslaughts that produce final lines that resemble football scores (Georgia 26, Arkansas 14, anyone?). And on any given Sunday — or any other day for that matter — just about any player can produce a dominant game.
In gearing up for this week’s regional action, ESPN compiled 10 games from the 2026 regular season that resulted in some particularly astounding stats, moments and box scores.
April 17: Northern Colorado 8, St. Thomas 7 (21 innings)
Stat or detail to know: The game ended on a walk-off balk.
A game is truly remarkable when it lasts 21 innings (and over 24 hours), and that’s still not the most memorable part. Such was the case with Northern Colorado-St. Thomas.
This game began April 17 at 3 p.m. local time and was suspended due to darkness while in extra innings. It didn’t end until around 5:30 p.m. the next day. The marathon battle had a dramatic conclusion: Two outs. Bases loaded. Tie score in the bottom of the inning … and then a balk was called. The winning run strolled home without a pitch being thrown.
Adding to the ludicrous nature of this contest is that though Northern Colorado won as the home team, the game was played at St. Thomas’ field because it was a makeup of a previous matchup that had been canceled due to wildfire smoke.
March 22: SIUE 28, Morehead State 23
Stat or detail to know: Six or more runs scored in six out of nine innings.
There are high-scoring games, and then there’s what SIUE and Morehead State pulled off in mid-March, combining for a remarkable 51 runs.
The visiting Cougars got off to a quick start, plating four runs in the top of the first, and things seldom slowed down after that. Both teams were scoreless in the second inning — the only inning for the rest of the game where at least one run wasn’t generated. Terrick Thompson-Allen hit for the cycle to help power SIUE to the shootout win, and three Cougars smashed multiple home runs.
It was a struggle for the pitchers of both teams, with a combined 15 hurlers used in the game.
May 7: Angelo State 3, St. Mary’s 2
Stat or detail to know: Angelo State was no-hit — and still won.
Conventional wisdom says you need to get hits to win games. That might be true in most cases, but Angelo State’s Lone Star Conference championship quarterfinal win over St. Mary’s was a rather incredible exception.
St. Mary’s pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter, but that wasn’t enough. The Rams scored three runs thanks to five walks and five errors. Angelo State won on a bases-loaded (the three baserunners reached on an error, intentional walk and a hit by pitch) walk-off … sacrifice fly.
“Last time we were on the road for the conference tournament, we didn’t score one,” Rams coach Kevin Brooks said after the game. “So, I hope this is not a precedent that we’re not going to get a hit the whole time we’re here.”
April 10: UCLA 4, Rutgers 1 (14 innings)
Stat or detail to know: UCLA’s Logan Reddemann struck out 18, and the Bruins’ staff fanned 30.
UCLA pitcher Logan Reddemann had a memorable start in early April against Rutgers, tying a school record by striking out 18 in eight innings, allowing just one run on two hits.
But the Bruins’ hitters were also struggling, and the Scarlet Knights’ lone run off Reddemann was enough to tie the score. So, UCLA went into its bullpen — and kept striking out hitters. Cal Randall fanned two in the ninth. Zach Strickland then struck out seven across the next four innings.
And then, after the Bruins pushed across three runs in the top of the 14th inning, Easton Hawk came in for the save and, fittingly, struck out the side to end the game.
April 14: Lehigh 38, Coppin State 6
Stat or detail to know: Lehigh scored 20 first-inning runs.
Twenty runs in one inning is eye-popping — it broke an NCAA Division I record that had stood for over 50 years. But the Mountain Hawks’ 20 first-inning runs came on only three hits.
How can this happen? Well, six of Lehigh’s first eight batters were either walked or hit by a pitch. At one point, 11 consecutive batters were either walked or hit by a pitch. One of the three hits was a grand slam.
Lehigh ended the 38-6 rout with just one more hit than Coppin State, and third baseman Aidan Quinn drew an NCAA Division I record seven walks.
March 20: Alabama 6, Florida 0
Stat or detail to know: Alabama’s Tyler Fay pitched the school’s first complete-game no-hitter in over 80 years.
No-hitters are impressive, but not necessarily groundbreaking. Across the many levels of college baseball, a few will happen every year.
A complete-game nine-inning no-hitter is much rarer — and Tyler Fay’s gem for the Crimson Tide came at the confluence of a pair of streaks. An Alabama pitcher hadn’t thrown a nine-inning, complete-game no-hitter in 84 years. Florida hadn’t been no-hit in over 60 years (and that came in a seven-inning game).
Both those streaks ended March 20.
Feb. 13: Baylor 15, New Mexico State 2
Stat or detail to know: Baylor’s Tyce Armstrong hit three grand slams.
Three home runs in one game is impressive. Three grand slams in one game requires skill and fortune.
Such was Tyce Armstrong’s circumstance during his Baylor debut in the Bears’ season-opening game. Armstrong couldn’t have asked for a better start, sending grand slams over the left-field wall in the third, fourth and seventh innings, becoming the second college player to hit three grand slams in one game.
“I’m speechless,” Armstrong said postgame. “It’s the coolest thing I’ve ever been a part of.”
March 26: Johnson County Community College 28, Neosho County Community College 0
Stat or detail to know: JCCC hit 11 home runs in six innings.
Johnson County Community College has been on a tear on the JUCO circuit this season — at one point, the Cavaliers had won 41 consecutive games, and they’ve scored double-digit runs in 50 of their 66 games. But their demolition of Neosho County Community College might mark JCCC’s magnum opus.
The Cavaliers weathered an anemic start — they scored only one run in the first inning, before turning on the jets offensively. They added five runs in the second, four in the third, four in the fourth, six in the fifth and eight in the sixth to bury the visiting Panthers. The long ball proved to be especially potent for JCCC, which blasted 11 home runs by eight batters.
Incredibly, that dominant day is only tied for the most home runs the Cavaliers have hit in a game this season.
April 5: LSU 16, Tennessee 6 (12 innings)
Stat or detail to know: LSU’s Cade Arrambide went yard four times.
Similar to Tyce Armstrong, Arrambide took his hot day at the place to another level in LSU’s series-winning rubber match against Tennessee.
Arrambide went 5-for-6 against the Volunteers. A stellar day by any definition, but he really took things up a notch by hitting four homers, the final of which was a grand slam in the 12th inning that helped the Tigers build a massive extra-innings lead to seal the win.
He became the first player in LSU program history to record a four-homer game, and the first SEC player to do so since 2023.
Feb. 28: Elon 3, Fairfield 0
Stat or detail to know: Elon’s pitchers combined to throw a no-hitter … the first pitch of which came minutes after Elon softball’s Anna Dew also threw a no-hitter.
Feb. 28 was a terrible day to be a hitter playing against Elon University.
Dew got things going for the school’s softball squad early in the day, hurling a perfect game as the Phoenix defeated Charleston Southern 8-0 in six innings. Minutes after Dew secured her perfect game, the Phoenix baseball squad started their game, during which Aidan Stieglitz, Mike Staiano and RJ Latkowski also kept their opponents hitless.
It was Elon baseball’s first no-hitter since 2017, which, interestingly enough, came in a game that, like St. Mary’s, the Phoenix lost.
