Social Media Reacts To UCLA's Walk-Off Victory Against Purdue
The Bruins are the number one seed in the Big Ten tournament and were faced with the task of defeating the Purdue Boilermakers in the quarter-final, a task which should have been pretty easy. This is because the Bruins only lost four games the entire year, and were able to dominate every Big Ten team that they faced; with that in mind, social media expected a victory, and a victory they got.
However, the win did not come as quickly or cleanly as expected, and UCLA ended up being in a thriller with the Boilermakers that came down to the wire before winning 4-3, so here's how the public reacted to the game as it progressed.
Social Media Reacts To UCLA's Thriller Against Purdue: First Score
In the third inning the Boilermakers were able to surprise UCLA with two quick runs, quickly putting the favorites of the whole tournament in trouble of being eliminated in their first match.
Fans should have been panicked, concerned, or had faith in their team in some degree, but instead the largest voices were the ones bashing on the team as a whole and saying that the season was practically over.
UCLA hasn't been playing elite baseball for a while. These are the teams you should be blasting. Instead they're struggling defensively, offensively and pitching. Not the way you want to be playing heading into postseason. They peaked midway this season.
- mlbdodgerfan2015 (@dodgersfan2015) May 23, 2026
However, it is worthy to note that there weren't many voices to begin with as many fans also had faith in the Bruins being able to beat Purdue in their first match and didn't feel the need to speak up.
Social Media Reacts To UCLA's Thriller Against Purdue: Second And Third Score
Purdue baseball battling UCLA!
- J. B. Edmondson (@1boilerfan) May 23, 2026
The second score was a single run in the top of the sixth, and it did not draw many reactions other than some begruding acceptance of how the team should have been able to score already.
But as quickly as the first score came for the Bruins, the Boilermakers were able to respond just as fast, and fans were not happy to hear that after the rough game they were already having.
UCLA baseball manufactures a run in the sixth inning but still trails Purdue 2-1.
- Ben Bolch (@calpostbbolch) May 23, 2026
Social Media Reacts To UCLA's Thriller Against Purdue: The Comeback
Never thought I'd sweat this much over the time of a Purdue UCLA baseball game
- Rick Saratoga (@toga_party_) May 23, 2026
The Bruins were able to climb back into the fight with two quick runs in the eighth inning, and suddenly everybody who hadn't been paying much attention was on the edge of their seat.
Then the Bruins found a walk off homerun to win the game, comepleting the comeback in stunning fashion and keeping their Big Ten tournament hopes alive, as well as the hopes of some of their fans who had been upset before.
UCLA AT LITERALLY THE LAST SECOND LMAOOOOOOOO. WE GET BIG RED BASEBALL TONIGHT!
- LucasLee (@LucasLeeTweets) May 23, 2026
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/ucla as Social Media Reacts To UCLA's Walk-Off Victory Against Purdue.
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This story was originally published May 24, 2026 at 5:00 AM.