TUCSON, Ariz. — Arizona Baseball's College World Series (CWS) run has come to an end in Omaha after losing to the Louisville Cardinals in an elimination game Sunday afternoon.
Arizona was up 3-1 in the 3rd inning and lost their momentum once they got to the 7th inning, when the Cardinals made the score 3-2, pulling away in the 8th scoring six runs and eventually taking the game 8-3.
Louisville will face Oregon State on Tuesday.
After the game Coach Chip Hale talked about the loss.
"Yeah, it’s obviously not the way you want it to end and really the only way you want it to end is to be the champion. So unfortunate. We played as hard as we could. We just didn't play fundamentally sound baseball today," Coach Hale said.
"And that's a frustrating thing as a coach and an instructor of baseball. It got really ugly at the end there, and I take the blame for that.”
Coach Hale went on to say this doesn’t mean they didn’t have a great season, ending with an overall record of 44-21.
"These kids played until the end, they did everything the could. So I'm really proud of them, I'm proud of their families for putting up with me as their surrogate father for the season, and nothing but good things for Wildcats in the future," Coach Hale said.
Senior Garen Caulfield said being a Wildcat and playing for Arizona has meant everything to him.
"The last month being on the road, I think we've been home for 24 hours to 36 hours, but I wouldn't change it for the world," Caulfield said. "It's probably the most fun I've ever had playing baseball this last month so I'm super grateful for it."
This year was Arizona's 19th appearance in the CWS, with the last appearance being in 2021.
Their titles came in 1976, 1980, 1986, and 2012.
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Vanessa Gongora is KGUN 9's Westside reporter.. Vanessa fell in love with storytelling by growing up in sports. She was fascinated by how sports reporters go beyond the x's & o's to tell players' stories, and how sports bring people together, inspiring Vanessa to provide the same impact as a journalist. Share your story ideas and important issues with Vanessa by emailing vanessa.gongora@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook, Instagram, and X.
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