Louisville advances in MCWS with late rally; Coastal Carolina holds off Oregon State

For seven innings on Sunday, it appeared that Louisville’s bid for its first national championship in program history was destined to come to a quiet end.

Fortunately for the Cardinals -- who hadn’t won a game at the Men’s College World Series since 2019 -- that was not the case in Louisville's 8-3 win over Arizona.

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Arizona got to Louisville’s Ethan Eberle early, taking a 2-0 lead in the top of the first on RBI singles by Adonys Guzman and Garen Caulfield after Eberle hit consecutive batters with one out in the inning. Guzman would later add on with a solo home run in the top of the third. Right-hander Smith Bailey put in six strong innings for the Wildcats, ultimately being charged with two runs and leaving the game in line for a win.

It wasn’t until the eighth that the Cardinals were able to fully capitalize on a run-scoring opportunity, but the late rally proved to be well worth the wait; Louisville tagged Arizona’s bullpen for six runs via singles, errors and a stray sacrifice bunt, taking a permanent 8-3 lead.

Zion Rose, responsible for the game-winning 2-run single that opened the scoring in the eighth, led the Cardinals with three RBIs on the day; recording an RBI each were Alex Alicea, Lucas Moore, Matt Klein and Kamau Neighbors, who also went 4-for-4.

The Cardinals bullpen ably covered the remainder of the game after Eberle departed having given up three runs over 3 2/3 high-stress innings; Tucker Biven, who effectively closed out the game with four scoreless innings, was credited with his fourth win of the season.

Coastal Carolina 6, Oregon State 2
Two days after needing a three-run eighth inning to win its opening game at the Men’s College World Series, Coastal Carolina opted for a much smoother approach on Sunday night.

Led by a dominant pitching performance from Jacob Morrison, the 13th-seeded Chanticleers breezed to a 6-2 win over Oregon State to remain in the MCWS winners’ bracket in Omaha, Neb. They're one win away from a spot in the CWS Finals.

Coastal Carolina wasted no time setting the tone against the Beavers. Batting with two outs in the top of the first inning, Colby Thorndyke cleared the bases on a double, sparking a quick 3-0 lead. Thorndyke’s drive to the right-center-field gap landed just beyond the reach of a diving Easton Talt.

Three runs proved to be plenty of run support for Morrison, the Sun Belt Conference Pitcher of the Year. The 6-foot-8 right-hander stole the show on the mound, at one point retiring 16 hitters in a row. Morrison tossed 7 2/3 innings of one-run ball over a career-high 109 pitches, scattering five hits and striking out seven.

Morrison’s lone blemish came in the third inning, on a solo home run off the bat of Talt.

The Chanticleers did well to keep Oregon State at arm’s length throughout the game, padding the lead in the early innings. They capitalized on a pair of fielding miscues in the fourth inning, cashing in a run after a potential double-play ball squirmed underneath the glove of second baseman AJ Singer. Four pitches later, a wild pitch sent Wells Sykes dashing to the plate, stretching the advantage to 5-1.

And in the end, Coastal Carolina didn’t need any late comeback this time. Instead, Morrison’s dominant effort and a quick start propelled the Chanticleers to the brink of the CWS Finals.