Louisville Gets Revenge, Walks Off Oregon State in College World Series Rematch

OMAHA, Neb. - Once again, with their backs against the wall, the Louisville baseball program has staved off elimination from the College World Series.

Getting a rematch with No. 8 Oregon State in the 1-1 elimination game, the Cardinals were able to upset the Beavers this time around, claiming a walk-off 7-6 victory on Tuesday at Charles Schwab Field.

Louisville (42-23) held a 6-3 lead heading to the ninth, only to see that advantage erased by Oregon State (48-16-1). Wyatt Danilowicz (0.0 IP, 1 BB, 2 H, 2 ER) gave up a leadoff solo home run, then was yanked after allowing the next two batters to reach base. Tucker Biven (1.0 IP, 2 K, 1 H) allowed a single to load the bases, and then a brutal error from shortstop Alex Alicea (1-3, 2 BB) allowed two runners to come home and tie the game.

However, Biven was able to retire the next three batters with two runners in scoring position, preserving the tie heading to the bottom of the ninth. With the bases loaded an one out, Eddie King Jr. (2-3, 3 RBI, 2B, 2 SF) delivered in the postseason once again, sending a ball to deep center field for the game-winning sacrifice fly.

Louisville also gets revenge after getting walked off 4-3 by Oregon State in their CWS opener last Friday. The Cardinals bounced back with an 8-3 win over Arizona on Sunday to set up a rematch with the Beavers, who lost 6-2 to No. 13 Coastal Carolina to fall to the loser's bracket.

The Cards tie their 2019 squad for the most wins in a single College World Series run (2), and next will try to add to that total against the Chanticleers. They'll have to take down Coastal twice in order to advance to the CWS Finals, with first pitch in their first matchup set for Wednesday, June 18 at 2:00 p.m. EST.

Prior to the ninth, Louisville was primarily anchored by a strong performance from their pitching staff. Brennyn Cutts (3.0 IP, 7 K, 4 BB, 3 H, 2 ER), Justin West (3.0 IP, 3 K, 1 BB, 1 H, 1 HBP, 1 ER), Jack Brown (1.0 IP, 2 H), Jake Schweitzer (1.0 IP, 1 K, 1 HBP) combined to hold Oregon State just 3-for-17 with runners on base, and 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position.

Jake Munroe (2-5, HR, 2 RBI) and Zion Rose (1-3, HR, RBI, BB) both hit home runs, marking the first CWS game for the Cardinals where multiple players hit a homer since Brendan McKay and Logan Taylor did so vs. TCU on June 22, 2017. Kamau Neighbors (1-4, RBI) also drove in a run as part of a 10-hit day for UofL.

Unlike their first two games in Omaha, Louisville was able to generate some offensive relatively early and put some pressure on Oregon State. King got the scoring started with an RBI single in the opening frame, Munroe launched a 394-foot, two-run homer in the third, then Rose blasted a 368-foot solo shot in the fourth.

Cutts gave the Cardinals a good, albeit short start on the mound in the rematch. While he set a season-high in strikeouts, the right-handed Indiana State transfer did get into some early jams. In the fourth, the Beavers finally took advantage with a two-run homer of their own to force him out.

West took over for Cutts, and proceeded to mow down OSU batters, securing every out in the fourth and tossing a perfect fifth. While he worked himself into a bases loaded jam with no outs, he only surrendered one run off of a fielder's choice.

In turn, prior to the ninth-inning collapse, UofL took advantage of the dodged bullet that proved to help maintain a tie. Neighbors hit a two-out RBI single in the sixth, while King collected a sacrifice fly in the seventh. Backing up these insurance efforts, Brown twirled a scoreless seventh, while Schweitzer put up a zero in the eighth.

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