LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — Losing to Oregon State Friday night in their NCAA College World Series opener ensured the University of Louisville baseball team would have to do it the hard way to survive at Charles Schwab Park in Omaha, Nebraska.
Then Dan McDonnell’s team made it even more difficult on themselves Sunday afternoon. The Cards gave up two quick runs to Arizona in the first and left seven runners on base to trail the Wildcats, 3-2, after seven innings.
Their season was down to their final six outs.
Not any more. The Cards (41-23) have another 27 outs to play with because Louisville punished Arizona with six runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to eliminate the Wildcats, 8-3.
"Expected," Cards second baseman Kamau Neighbors said of the rally. "That's the team we are."
"You've got to work your tail off and you've got to believe it is going to happen," McDonnell said. "These games are one inning, one out, one pitch type of games.
"This is a fun spot to be in, especially on Father's Day."
They’ll return Tuesday at 2 p.m. to play another elimination game against Oregon State. Coastal Carolina defeated Oregon State, 6-2, Sunday night.
The Beavers defeated the Cards, 4-3, on Friday night. The winner of the OSU/U of L game will play Coastal Carolina on Wednesday at 2 p.m. That team will have to defeat Coastal again on Thursday to advance to the final series. Coastal has won 25 consecutive games.
How did the Cards topple Arizona?
A combination of clutch hitting and base-running by the Cards and a defensive meltdown by Arizona.
Arizona shortstop Mason White bobbled a routine ground ball by Jake Munroe to start the party in the eighth. Eddie King singled to center to put the tying and go-ahead runs on base.
Arizona summoned Tony Pluta, its ace closer, who carried an earned run average of 1.25 and 14 saves. The Cardinals were not fazed. Tae Davis fought off a low change-up to bloop a single to right field to load the bases.
Zion Rose unloaded them with another soft single that landed just inside the right field line that brought home two runs and put the Cards ahead, 4-3. Those two hits were far from the hardest hit balls of the day but they were perfectly place. That is baseball.
Louisville added three more on a single by Neighbors, a bunt by Alex Alicia and singles by Lucas Moore and Matt Klein. For Neighbors, it was his fourth single of the game.
"It was just my day today," Neighbors said. 'These guys have picked me up throughout the year, so I was lucky to pick them up."
"We just didn't play sound fundamental baseball today," Arizona coach Chip Hale said "It got really ugly there at the end ... we just made a lot of plays that were uncharacteristic of ourselfves.
"Once you saw the game turn, you saw Louisville take advantage of it. You've got to give them credit."
Tucker Biven, the third pitcher used by McDonnell, finished four scoreless innings in relief by shutting down the Wildcats in the ninth, ending the game on a soft fly ball to center field.
Louisville fell behind 2-0 in the first inning after starter Ethan Eberle hit two of the first three Arizona batters.
The Cards responded with a second-inning run when Munroe scored on a Zion Rose ground out.
But the Cards finished that inning by stranding Rose on first, and the pattern continued. Louisville left a runner on second in the third as well as runners on first and second in the fourth and fifth innings.
Smith Bailey, Arizona’s starting pitcher, used a four-pitch mix to confuse the Cards’ hitters. Although Bailey only struck out four, nine Cards were retired on soft fly balls and Zion Rose rolled into a double play to end the sixth inning.
Arizona catcher Adonis Guzman drove in the Wildcats’ first run in the opening inning and then rocked a home run over the left field bullpen for Arizona’s third run.
McDonnell huddled his team in the dugout. He delivered a passionate speech about how their season was reduced to four innings. The Cards did not respond in the sixth. But they did in the eighth.
"It just makes me smile because these guys kept believing," McDonnell said. "So I'm really happy for them ... as a coach you're just really proud when these buy in and take pride in the Muhammad Ali analogies."
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