OMAHA, Neb. – It will be SEC vs. Big Ten for the national championship.

No. 2 Vanderbilt scored a pair of runs in the top of the ninth and eliminated No. 7 Louisville 3-2 on Friday evening in the 2019 College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park.

The Commodores (57-11) will face Michigan in the best-of-three championship series beginning on Monday at 6 p.m. CT.

“I thought it was a very well-played college baseball game,” VU head coach Tim Corbin said. “Certainly emotional for both sides. When you get to this point, you’re trying to separate yourself from another championship team because really all these teams right now are championship level, and Dan’s team certainly is that.”

The Cardinals (51-18) led 2-1 after eight. With one out in the top of the ninth, JJ Bleday worked a walk. Ethan Paul doubled into the right field corner and Bleday was able to score, tying the game at 2-2. It ended the night for UL starter Luke Smith.

“I knew that he was close to his end,” Paul said, “so I just wanted to get a pitch that I could handle. I wasn’t going to expand for him or chase. Just got in a hitter’s count and got the pitch I was looking for and put a barrel on it.”

Michael McAvene came in from the pen. Philip Clarke dumped a single into right, moving Paul to third. Pat DeMarco hit a ball over the third base bag that landed just fair, allowing Paul to score the go-ahead run.

Closer Tyler Brown took over on the mound for the Commodores in the bottom of the ninth. He struck out pinch-hitter Zach Britton for the first out. Drew Campbell laced a grounder that hit the first base bag and went for a double. Brown fanned Justin Lavey for the second out. Henry Davis hit a low liner on which second baseman Ray Harrison made a diving catch to secure the victory.

The Commodores started the scoring in the third. Ray drew a leadoff walk and moved to third on a base hit to center by Ty Duvall. Ray came home when Julian Infante hit into a double play, giving VU a 1-0 edge.

Smith (6-1) kept the Commodores in check, going 8.1 innings with four hits, three runs, two walks and 10 strikeouts.

VU starter Mason Hickman shut out the Cards for six innings with two hits, two walks and three strikeouts.

“Mason did everything that he could just to keep us in the game,” Corbin said. “He left with a zero on the scoreboard, so he gave us a chance to win.”

Jake Eder came in to pitch for the Commodores in the bottom of the seventh. His first pitch was sent to the wall by Danny Oriente for a leadoff double. Pinch-runner Trey Leonard moved to third on a sac bunt by Campbell. With the infield in, Lavey grounded sharply to Paul at short. He threw home and nailed Leonard for the second out.

“We train that so much back at Vandy,” Paul said. “I just didn’t want to rush the play, just trust myself and make a good throw. In those moments you try not to do too much and you just don’t panic and you just make a good play.”

Davis singled to left, moving Lavey to second. With Lucas Dunn at the plate, Lavey stole third and scored when the throw went into left field, tying the game at 1-1. Davis went to second and scored on a base hit by Dunn to give UL a 2-1 lead. “Congratulations to Vanderbilt,” UL head coach Dan McDonnell said. “It’s a really good team. They play clean. They make you earn it. It wasn’t easy to score off them the two times we played them. So they get to move on.
“But I really want to focus on our team, our effort, and how much fun this was this entire season. Take a lead into the ninth, man, Luke Smith, what a performance, and super proud of him and all these guys that fought hard. It’s not easy to get this far.”