College World Series 2017 scores and bracket: Louisville brought the bats to Omaha

The Cardinals are here to hit, and hit they did.

Jun 19, 2017, 2:20 AM UTC

NCAA Baseball: College World Series-Louisville vs Texas A&M

Steven Branscombe-USA TODAY Sports

After Saturday night’s zany antics between LSU and Florida State, Sunday would be hard-pressed to top the Tigers and ‘Noles in the drama department, but both bouts on the other side of the bracket had plenty to offer College World Series viewers. Louisville’s bats in particular opened up TD Ameritrade Park for some good old fashioned run manufacturing, and the Cardinals scored the most runs of the CWS thus far.

Louisville downed Texas A&M in the afternoon game, 8-4, while Florida beat TCU in the nightcap, 3-0.

No. 7 Louisville and Texas A&M kicked off the early session on Sunday, and the Cardinals wasted little time in getting up on the Aggies in the second. Thanks to a flurry of five singles in the bottom of the frame, Louisville plated five runs there and things looked to be getting out of hand for A&M.

But the Aggies found an answer in the form of a fourth inning two spot, then a sixth inning dash for two runs that ended lefty Brendan McKay’s outing. That brought on bridge man Sam Bordner, who managed to stop the bleeding and get out of the jam. Bordner in fact pitched out the rest of the game, surrendering no more runs in the process.

Cason Sherrod took the hill for A&M in the bottom of the sixth, but he must not have seen the Aggies’ offensive fireworks, because he got himself into a bases-loaded jam with just one out. Then, a throw-and-catch blunder at second on a chopper to the right gap pulled him off the bag so that he failed to complete the tag. That moved everyone forward one base and crossed Louisville’s sixth run of the day.

Worse still, Sherrod just couldn’t find his targets, and after walking another batsman to cross the Cardinals’ second runner of the frame, he got the ax, having thrown just 15 pitches. Just a miserable offering in a park that requires sound defense. Kaylor Chafin came in to mop up the final two outs, but A&M was by then very much on the ropes.

From there, the Cards crossed another run in the bottom of the eighth, but really the damage had been done. Louisville took it to advance to the winners bracket, 8-4.

In the evening session, Florida big whip Alex Faedo — who was drafted by the Tigers in the first round of the MLB Draft on Monday — needed just 10 pitches (seven strikes) to get himself out of the top of the first totally clean. The Gators backed that up with a sac-grounder to score one in the bottom of the frame and off to the second they went, 1-0 Florida.

The top of the third saw Faedo’s command slip slightly, as he allowed a walk then another runner on a fielder’s choice play, tabling runners at first and second. That in turn led to another one-out walk, and lo and behold the bases were loaded. That’s what TCU does to pitchers, though, practicing patience at the plate and taking pitches that don’t pass muster. In any case, Faedo found his way out of the ordeal and his slate remained clean of runs.

TCU’s Jared Janczak very often does pass muster, but the Horned Frogs ace got into trouble in the fourth, netting Gator runners at the corners with just one out. He gave up a slapper to left and Nelson Maldonado trotted home for the second run of the night. That was all Florida could plate, though, as Janczak calmed himself down and blew away Dalton Guthrie to end the inning.

Still, Florida earned runners at the corners in the bottom of the fifth with no outs, and Maldonado cracked a funky grounder through the gap at left to cross the Gators’ third run of the night. That immediately shut down Janczak’s outing, who’d thrown 87 pitches, 49 of them for strikes.

With Faedo still dealing and riding the bump, Florida coasted through the the seventh, taking on no water despite a tentative TCU threat in the sixth. That trend continued in the next frame, as Faedo burned down the first three Frogs batters to stay scoreless on the night.

Haylen Green started the bottom of the seventh for the Horned Frogs, and he retired the side, despite a bizarre fielding error by his first baseman in foul territory. On Florida’s side, Faedo got the ax after seven complete and was spelled by flamethrower Michael Byrne.

Byrne cleaned out the bottom of the eighth, then allowed a double in the bottom of the ninth but threw his way out of the jam to land the Gators their first win of the CWS. Florida thus advances into the winners bracket, after getting bounced in two consecutive losses from Omaha last year.