Muhammad Ali, 2015 Toronto Blue Jays Inspire Louisville Elimination Game Victory

Photo Courtesy of Louisville Athletics

Omaha, NE– The Louisville Cardinal offense finally landed a big inning haymaker after 16 pedestrian innings at the 2025 College World Series. Head coach Dan McDonnell’s team left a small village stranded on the basepaths for the first seven innings before a 6-run explosion turned the tide and pushed them past the Arizona Wildcats, 8-3.

After losing to Oregon State in heartbreaking walk-off fashion to start their CWS campaign, McDonnell referenced Muhammad Ali in his post-game presser. “When you come from Louisville, Kentucky, and you have a Muhammad Ali uniform, you talk a lot of boxing, and you're going to get knocked down, especially with these teams.” The subtext was clear– Louisville needed to get up off the mat and fight.

The Cardinals’ lead off man reached base in four of the first seven innings while only scoring two runs. The clutch hit that would tie the game or take the lead seemed just out of reach, but Louisville continued to scuffle. Pitchers Ethan Eberle, Wyatt Danilowicz, and Tucker Biven combined to hold the Arizona Wildcats within striking distance. 

When asked post-game about the team’s fighting mentality, Eddie King Jr credited a clip from the 2015 American League Division Series as an inspiration. In that game, the Toronto Blue Jays were struggling to score before breaking through in a big way with a four run 7th highlighted by Jose Bautista’s iconic bat flip following a no doubt three-run home run.

“We've been doing things like this all year,” said King, who is hitting over .500 in the NCAA Tournament and is the unquestioned leader of this squad. “[The Blue Jays] had a big 7th inning and this just reminded me of our 8th inning. So I'm glad I could pull that clip out and show the team. We've been doing it all year and we just need to keep doing it, honestly.”

Zion Rose confirmed the importance of the Bautista clip and added with a laugh, “As we got done watching that video, Coach Mac said, ‘Whatever you do, don't do a Bautista deal or you're getting thrown out the game.’”

After some poor luck that saw multiple exit velocities of 100 MPH+ find Arizona gloves for outs, the tables turned in the 8th for Louisville. Down 3-2, a throwing error by Wildcat shortstop Mason White pulled the first baseman off the bag, allowing lead-off hitter Jake Munroe to reach base. With the Cardinal faithful chanting his name, Eddie King Jr laced a ball back up the middle. That’s when Arizona went to their biggest weapon; NCBWA Stopper of the Year Tony Pluta, who entered the CWS with a 1.42 ERA and school record 14 saves.

Twice the Cardinals had gotten runners on first and second and twice they’d failed to score. They’d been landing soft body shots all day, searching for an opening to deliver the big blow. Tague Davis, who’d lined a ball 110 MPH for an out in this exact situation earlier in the game, blooped one into shallow right to load the bases with nobody out.

Big moments tend to find the big player. Like the moment found Jose Bautista in the 2015 ALDS, so too would the moment find Louisville star Zion Rose in the 2025 CWS. The sophomore outfielder had been struggling at the plate this NCAA Tournament, and was 6-for-30 (.200) in the postseason. After batting at the top of the order virtually the entire season, Rose found himself batting seventh against Arizona. And yet the moment still found him.

Rose had already made an impact on the game with two key plays on defense as he flashed the leather with a diving catch to rob a base hit and showed off his arm by throwing a dart to cut down a runner at third by ten feet. But his biggest impact came at the plate in the 8th.

The Chicago native flared a looping single that landed just inside the foul line in shallow right field. Munroe came home to score with Eddie King Jr right behind him and suddenly, Louisville had a 4-3 lead. And there were still no outs.

“This game's weird,” Rose said of his go-ahead two-run single. “You can hit 110 mile per hour line drives and be out and then hit 63 mile per hour bloop shots and it's two RBIs for you. The game just rewarded us in that eighth inning.”

“Guys like him, they always find big moments to come through for us,” King said post-game. “I'm just happy for Zion. He's like a little brother to me, he's great, and he's going to continue to do really great things. I'm really happy to see that ball fall for him.” 

The Cardinals were finally landing the big punch. Rose stole second, then advanced to third on a Garrett Pike fielder’s choice that saw Tague Davis cut down at home. Then Kamau Neighbors checked in with his fourth hit of the game and made it 5-3. An error, a sac bunt, and singles from Lucas Moore and Matt Klein added three more runs as Arizona imploded. Moore had been 6-for-35 (.182) before his 8th inning base hit. Klein drove Moore in but was thrown out trying to advance to second.

Kamau Neighbors doubled his season high for hits in a game with four and was a major sparkplug at the bottom of the order. He delivered quality at bats in every appearance and perhaps his biggest moment came on a perfectly placed bunt single that put runners on the corners and no outs in the 7th. While Louisville didn’t have the big inning then, they were able to cut the deficit to 3-2 following a Lucas Moore sacrifice fly.

It was just another body shot that helped wear down the Arizona resolve. Muhammed Ali, who was borned and raised in Louisville, Kentucky, is a favorite source of inspiration and motivation for McDonnell during coaching moments.

“We mention it because we are very fortunate we come from the city the same as the greatest,” McDonnell explained. “And [the Alis] are connected to our family, and I hugged Lonnie Ali before I got on the bus. It's pretty fricking cool to hug Lonnie Ali before you get on the bus to come to the stadium.”

The Cardinals’ knockout punch would not have been possible without the gritty performances of the aforementioned trio of pitchers. Freshman Ethan Eberle started the game and after weathering the first inning, settled in and dealt 3.2 strong innings. He scattered six hits while allowing just three earned runs. 

After that, Wyatt Danilowicz bridged the gap with 1.1 scoreless innings of relief before making way for Tucker Biven, the former Louisville closer turned starter during the second half of this season. The junior right-hander managed traffic brilliantly by generating relatively soft contact and working around five hits through four innings of relief. While the offense was probing with jabs to the body, the pitching staff was protecting themselves from taking a knockout blow themselves. Biven allowed two baserunners in the 9th, but stranded the runners to complete the 8-3 win.

“As a coach, you're just really proud when these kids buy in and take pride with the Muhammad Ali analogies,” McDonnell said post-game. “But they earned it.”

Louisville will advance to play the loser of Oregon State/Coastal Carolina on Tuesday in another elimination game. Peter Michael is expected to start for the Cardinals.