Cards Rally Late; Walked Off By Oregon State

Mark BlankenbakerJune 14, 2025

The University of Louisville baseball team rallied in the ninth inning but was eventually walked off in a 4-3 loss to Oregon State on Friday night at the 2025 College World Series.

Louisville (40-23) will now play Arizona on Sunday at 2 p.m. ET in an elimination game.

The Cardinals entered the ninth inning trailing by a pair of runs on Friday night.

Zion Rose hammered the first pitch past a diving left fielder and ended up on third base with a leadoff triple. Tague Davis then beat out a groundball single that brought Rose home to cut the deficit in half. The Cardinals then pinch ran for Davis, but the baserunner was thrown out trying to swipe second.

With the bases now clear and one out, Alex Alicea hit a slow-roller to shortstop. The throw was wide of the bag at first sending Alicea to second, and a second throwing miscue allowed the Louisville shortstop to head all the way to third. Kamau Neighbors followed with a single into centerfield on the next pitch to tie the game at three.

The next two Louisville hitters were retired, sending the game to the bottom of the ninth even at three.

The Cardinals retired the leadoff man in the bottom half before a single to center put the potential winning run on base. The next batter lined the first pitch into the left field corner and Louisville’s relay to the plate was just late as the winning run scored.

Patrick Forbes took a no-decision in the start, giving up three runs over 5.1 innings. The right-hander tied the Louisville College World Series record with 10 strikeouts on the night.

Forbes was part of a pitcher’s duel to start the night. The junior faced the minimum through the first three innings, matching his Oregon State counterpart and striking out five the first time through the order.

Oregon State (48-14-1) got to Forbes in the fourth, scoring twice to take a 2-0 lead.

After a scoreless fifth, Louisville finally broke through in the sixth. With two runners in scoring position, Jake Munroe lined a hot shot at the shortstop that wasn’t handled cleanly, bringing Neighbors home to make it 2-1.

The Beavers answered right back though, getting a run across in their half of the sixth to push the lead back to two, where it would remain until the ninth.

Eight of nine starters had a hit on the night for the Cardinals, led by a 2-for-4 game from Munroe.