OMAHA, Neb. – The Cards saved their best for their final at-bat.
Zion Rose had a two-run single and scored in a six-run eighth as Louisville rallied to defeat Arizona 8-3 on Sunday afternoon in Game 5 of the 2025 College World Series in front of 23,647 fans at Charles Schwab Field.
The Cardinals (41-23) will face the loser of the Oregon State vs. Coastal Carolina game in an elimination contest on Tuesday at 1 p.m. CT. The Wildcats conclude their season with a 44-21 record.
“This is a fun spot to be in,” UL head coach Dan McDonnell said, “especially on Father’s Day. I got to play here, I got to coach here on Father’s Day in ’07, first time. And a lot of those ’07 guys were sending me text messages today because we won that day. So it’s just special. Just a lot of great memories, great memories of my dad supporting me around the game. And that’s what I’ve tried to pour into these guys, just enjoy it and realize what your parents do to get you to this spot and how much fun they’re having. They’re having a lot of stress, too, but man they’re having a lot of fun. So really happy to be in this spot and celebrating these guys.”
UL trailed 3-2 in the eighth. Jake Munroe started the rally by reaching on an error and went to second on a base hit to center by Eddie King Jr. UA went to the bullpen and summoned Tony Pluta. Tague Davis greeted him with a base hit to right center to load the bases. Rose dumped a single into right to plate Munroe and King to put the Cards on top 4-3.
Rose stole second to put two in scoring position. Garret Pike reached on a fielder’s choice as Davis was caught between third and home for the first out.
Neighbors sent a single to right, his fourth hit of the game, to knock in Rose and make it 5-3.
“Nothing really changed, I’d say, as far as mindset and routine,” Neighbors said. “You guys know how baseball is. Today just happened to be my day. These guys always picked me up throughout the year. I’m just lucky that I was able to pick them up today.”
Pike broke for home on an apparent suicide squeeze and was caught in a rundown. Pluta was unable to make a play at the plate as Pike touched home to extend the lead to 6-3.
Alex Alicea laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt to knock in Neighbors, stretching the advantage to 7-3.
Lucas Moore singled, stole second and scored on a base hit by Matt Klein to make it 8-3.
The Cats got their offense going immediately. Aaron Walton was hit by a pitch with one away and scored on a single by Adonys Guzman. Guzman would later come home on a base hit by Garen Caulfield to make it 2-0.
Munroe had a leadoff single in the bottom of the second and scored on a fielder’s choice by Rose as the Cards cut the deficit in half at 2-1.
Guzman belted his ninth homer of the season in the top of the third as the Cats made it 3-1.
Pike doubled and scored on a sacrifice fly by Moore in the seventh as UL pulled within one at 3-2.
Tucker Biven (4-0) was strong in relief for the Cards, going 4.0 scoreless innings with five hits, no walks and two strikeouts to earn the victory.
Neighbors went 4 for 4 with one run and one RBI. Rose knocked in three for the Cards.
Smith Bailey gave UA a solid start, going 6.0 innings with seven hits, two runs, two walks and four strikeouts.
“Today he was tough,” McDonnell said of Bailey. “The ability to throw off-speed in what you would think is fastball counts. And that’s an impressive year for anybody, but especially a freshman.”
Guzman went 2 for 5 with two runs and two RBI for the Wildcats.
“Obviously it’s not the way you want it to end,” Arizona head coach Chip Hale said. “Really the only way you want it to end is to be the champion. Unfortunate. We played as hard as we could. We just didn’t play fundamentally sound baseball today. That’s the frustrating thing as a coach and as an instructor of baseball. It got really ugly at the end there. I take the blame for that. I have to have the team better prepared.
“But it doesn’t mean we didn’t have a great season. These kids played until the end. They did everything they could. I’m really proud of them. I’m proud of their families for putting up with me as their surrogate father for this season. And nothing but good things for the Wildcats in the future.”
Notes
Louisville has 19 come-from-behind wins, including three in the NCAA Tournament.
The Cardinals are 26-0 this season when leading after eight innings and 203-5-1 since the start of the 2019 season.
Jake Munroe extended his on-base streak to 28 straight games.
Lucas Moore stole his 52nd base of the season, the top mark in the nation.
Arizona has lost six straight College World Series contests.
The Wildcats were 32-0 prior to this game when leading after seven innings.