Louisville erupts in 8th inning to eliminate Arizona 8-3

Louisville erupted for a six-run eighth inning and the Cardinals knocked Arizona out of the College World Series with an 8-3 win Sunday.

Louisville’s 19th come-from-behind win of the season moved the Cardinals (41-23) to another elimination game Tuesday against the loser of Sunday night’s Coastal Carolina-Oregon State matchup.

The Cardinals trailed 3-1 early and came up empty after having runners in scoring position in the third, fourth and fifth innings.

By then, coach Dan McDonnell had seen enough, and he gave his players a stern talking to in the dugout with the hope of sparking a breakthrough.

Arizona had an improbable meltdown with National Stopper of the Year Tony Pluta on the mound after the Cardinals’ first two batters reached in the eighth.

Tucker Biven (4-0) pitched the last four innings for the Cardinals, working around two singles to hold Arizona scoreless in the ninth. Louisville is 26-0 when leading after eight innings and 203-5-1 since the start of 2019.

“Congratulate Arizona on a great year,” McDonnell said. “I know it hurts. It’s tough on them, but really one bad inning for them. They deserved to be here. They played their tail off in the postseason. They went on the road. Tough on the road, and played really good here. These games, they’re one inning, sometimes one pitch, one-out type of games.”

Arizona (44-21) is the first team eliminated from the College World Series. The Wildcats have lost six straight CWS games over three appearances since 2016.