The Xavier Musketeers had their backs against the wall on Sunday. After falling to the Oklahoma Sooners on Friday in their opening round game, the Musketeers would have to rattle off four straight wins to win the Louisville Regional.

On Saturday, they beat Radford. That’s one.

Sunday afternoon, they had a rematch with the Sooners. The Musketeers bludgeoned them, 11-0. That’s two.

Standing between Xavier and a Super Regional appearance? The Louisville Cardinals, twice.

Sure, the odds were against the Musketeers, but they had already gotten halfway there.

After three scoreless innings each way, the Musketeers cracked Louisville starting pitcher Nick Bennett, as Nate Soria singled home a pair to get Xavier on the board.

The lead would be short-lived. In the bottom of the fourth, Louisville’s Josh Stowers put the Cardinals ahead with a three-run home run.

Ethan Schmidt led off the fifth inning with a solo home run to tie the game back up. Then, in the sixth inning, Soria gave the Musketeers the lead back with another RBI single.

The lead would be short-lived. In the bottom of the sixth, Louisville plated three runs to take a 6-4 lead over the Musketeers.

Xavier kept fighting, though, plating three of their own in the top of the seventh to hop back on top with a 7-6 lead.

The lead would be short-lived. Louisville scored two more in the seventh to give them an 8-7 lead. That would ultimately be the final score, ending Xavier’s season.

STATS