These University of Louisville baseball guys were not going to be denied, all but guaranteeing a win in the championship game of the Louisville Super Regional. Their vision came true, the work, the sacrifices, and sheer persistence. UofL baseball is on its way to Omaha for the College World Series for the sixth time in school history.
Not an easy journey and it has been a while, six long seasons since 2019. More downs than ups a couple of those years, especially the past two when no NCAA invitations were forthcoming. No complaints, according to Coach Dan McDonnell, him personally and his teams, learning, getting tougher through adversity. Makes one appreciate what it really takes to be successful.
Louisville made it happen with nail biting, tension packed drama in front of 6,046 feisty and hungry UofL fans on Sunday afternoon at Jim Patterson Stadium. The final score, even closer than it appears, Louisville 3, Miami 2. The Cardinals head to Omaha with a 40-22 won-lost record with an even loftier goal in mind. “We’re not going to be satisfied just getting there, we want to win the whole thing,” he told his rambunctious players afterwards during a team meeting in center field.
No one was more elated than Eddie King, Jr., who bypassed any opportunities to compete in Major League Baseball as a free agent after last season. He knew exactly what he wanted to do, he wanted to return to the University of Louisville this season. Unfinished business, wanting to get better, wanting to learn more under Dan McDonnell.
It was appropriate Sunday that Eddie would be the super hero. His only hit of the game, a double bouncing off the glove of a diving center fielder in the seventh inning. About time he got a break, after being robbed of numerous home runs by miracle catches in recent weeks. That followed a single by Jake Munroe who would go on to score the winning run.
“I was just trying to hit the ball, move it, put the barrel on it, move the ball, hopefully get a hit,” said King. “I didn’t want to try to do too much, just let the ball go somewhere and hopefully get a run in.” And he did just that.
Uofl had scored two run in the fourth. Garret Pike reached on a bunt single with one out and Zion Rose followed with a double into the left field corner that plated the opening run. Tague Davis singled to move Rose to third, and Bayram Hot tied the game up with a ground ball on the infield.
Coach McDonnell said his team felt the pain of not being selected last year, saying his coaches and players carried a collective chip on their shoulder. “I give my coaches and players a lot of credit. They worked their tails over the past several months. They believed in what we were doing. It was a journey for us, lots of adversity to overcome, and I’m super proud of what they were able to accomplish.”
