Louisville baseball tops Oregon State, reaches CWS semifinal. 3 takeaways from Omaha

OMAHA, NE. — Revenge was served hot on Tuesday afternoon.

On an 80-degree overcast day with thunderstorms looming, Eddie King, Jr.'s sac fly scored Alex Alicea to give Louisville baseball its first win over Oregon State, 7-6, during the second-round elimination game at Charles Schwab Field. King finished with two hits and three RBI.

The Cardiac Cardinals (42-23) flipped the script on Oregon State after the Beavers' 4-3 walk-off win to open the College World Series on Friday. But they had momentum on their side and fended off Oregon State's ninth-inning rally, keeping their season alive.

U of L moves on to play Coastal Carolina in the CWS semifinals at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

Here are three takeaways from Louisville's win over Oregon State:

Brennyn Cutts comes up big in second start

Brennyn Cutts (4-1) had only one other start at Louisville − a 14-10 loss against California − when his name was called in a must-win game against Oregon State. The Indiana State transfer started his outing by giving up a leadoff hit to Trent Caraway but then buckled down by striking out the next three batters.

Cutts gave up a two-run homer to Jacob Krieg in the top of the fourth inning but finished the day with a season-high seven strikeouts.

Bringing out the big bats

Louisville scored in three of the first four innings to build a 4-2 lead. King started it off with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the first inning. After a 1-2-3 second inning, Jake Munroe added a two-run bomb that went 394 feet with a 104 exit velocity. It was Munroe's fourth homer of the postseason and 13th total on the season. He'd previously hit three in the super regional series against Miami. King, Jr. continued his postseason dominance with a ground rule double but was left stranded on a flyout.

Zion Rose tallied his 13th homer of the season to lead off the bottom of the fourth, going 368 feet for the 4-2 lead. Louisville finished with 10 hits on the day.

Minimized damage

Louisville's 4-2 lead became in jeopardy when Justin West walked the leadoff batter, gave up a hit and hit another batter to load the bases in the top of the sixth inning. The series of events led to a mound visit from pitching coach Roger Williams. West responded by striking out the next batter before the Cardinals got the next two outs.

Louisville only allowed one run on a fielder's choice, stranding two Beavers to close out the top half of the inning with the 4-3 advantage.

West threw three innings and held Oregon State to one earned run on one hit with one walk while fanning three batters. Louisville held the Beavers scoreless for the rest of the game.

Up next: Louisville to play Coastal Carolina

The Cardinals are two wins away from the national championship series. They face Coastal Carolina in the semifinals at 2 p.m. Wednesday. A win over the Chanticleers, who haven't lost in the CWS bracket, would cause the two teams to play again on Thursday at a time yet to be determined.

Reach Louisville football, women's basketball and baseball beat writer Alexis Cubit at acubit@gannett.com and follow her on X at @Alexis_Cubit. 

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville baseball score: UofL wins elimination game vs Oregon State