By Derek DeBurger

Louisville’s magical season stays alive thanks to a wild eighth inning against the Arizona Wildcats.

Don’t throw a fit

The woes came fast and furious early on for the Cards.

Ethan Eberle got the start on the mound, breaking the postseason rotation Dan McDonnell had established. The result was three hits and two runs given up in the top of the first inning for the Cards to fall behind 2-0.

Louisville got themselves on the board in the second with a fielder’s choice from Zion Rose to send Jake Munroe home, making the score 2-1.

Eberle started to get his legs under him, fanning the first two batters with ease in the top of the third. He worked into an 0-2 count to get the final out of the inning, but two balls set up a pitch that Adonys Guzman liked and he crushed it to the tune of 399 feet.

Eberle struck out the final batter to strikeout the side, but the solo home run put Arizona back up by two runs.

Then Louisville fell back into the hole they got themselves into against Oregon State on Friday. The Cards did a good job of getting runs on base however they needed to, but they kept stranding runners by the time the third out was recorded.

Louisville left four runners on base from the fourth through the sixth innings, continuing to give the Wildcats momentum when they didn’t earn it.

The shortcomings on offense led McDonnell to give an impassioned speech in the dugout, getting in the faces of his players and demanding more from them.

In the seventh the Cards were again able to Kamau Neighbors in scoring position, but this time a sacrifice fly from Lucas Moore sent him home to cut the lead to 3-2.

 The scoring stopped there in the seventh, but it picked up in a major way in the eighth.

Munroe got on base as the leadoff hitter on an error, put Louisville in position for the first time as the team to get some momentum when they didn’t deserve it. Eddie King Jr. and Tague Davis then got base hits to load the bases with no outs.

A third consecutive single from Rose sent Munroe and King home to give Louisville their first lead of the day.

Garret Pike then hit a fielder’s choice in which Davis somehow got caught in a pickle between third and home, but Pike used the chaos to his advantage and took off to second base.

Neighbors then hit an RBI-single to send Rose home and Pike to third.

Pike then found himself in his own pickle between third and home when Alex Alicea failed to even attempt a bunt when one was likely called. However, Pike sprinted towards home plate and a fielding error from the pitcher let him tack on one extra run via a wild sequence.

Neighbors again smartly took advantage of the chaos, and an actual bunt attempt from Alicea sent him home.

Moore singled to get aboard, and a base hit from Matt Klein sent him scurrying home. But Klein somehow awkwardly got tagged out at second trying to leg out a double, ending the inning.

Now holding a five-run lead, the Cards found themselves just three outs away from staying alive. Tucker Biven did what he had to do, and Moore recorded the final out just like he did in the Super Regionals.

Louisville won 8-3.

Take it or leave it

At no point was Sunday’s game pretty for the Cards, but the destination was far more important than the journey.

When Louisville was down they looked lifeless, and when they came storming back it looked weird.

That’s the only way to say it.

The bats also woke up for the first time since the Nashville Regional opener against East Tennessee State.

King stayed hot, going 2-for-3 with a run, and Neighbors had an incredible day going 4-for-4 with an RBI and a run.

In spite of the win, Louisville went through a lot of crucial arms Sunday.

Eberle got the start and Biven closed it out, but both pitchers have been in the starting rotation during the postseason. Wyatt Danilowicz also threw 1.1 innings, shortening an already shallow bullpen for the Cards.

Brennyn Cutts will now likely be thrust into a starting role Tuesday with the season on the line. Cutts was a starter for Indiana State a season ago for a ranked tournament team, but he has yet to start a game on the mound in Louisville.

Louisville still has their backs against the wall, but is guaranteed at least one more game. They will play the loser of the Coastal-Carolina-Oregon State game.

Photo Courtesy // Taris Smith, Louisville Athletics