OMAHA, Neb. – More than 24 hours after their College World Series game against Auburn began, the Louisville Cardinals finally felt victory in Omaha.

Despite a rain delay that postponed Tuesday’s game into Wednesday, the Cardinals defeated Auburn 5-3, earning their first win in the 2019 College World Series. The win also keeps Louisville’s season alive, as it will advance to Thursday’s game and play Mississippi State at 8 p.m. EDT.

But the celebration didn’t equal what many would imagine from a program that is now 3-9 in Omaha. After closer Michael Kirian struck out Rankin Woley to earn the save, there were some celebrations.

There were no arms thrown into the air and no over-the-top hugs shared by teammates. Instead, they greeted each other and jumped into the line to shake Auburn’s hands. Even in the tunnel on the way to the clubhouse, there was no screaming or any chants.

Plenty of players had smiles and were obviously in a better mood than after Sunday’s loss to Vanderbilt, but the Cardinals didn’t make Wednesday’s win bigger than it needed to be.

“We're looking at the next game,” Drew Campbell said. “Like, we’re not done yet.”

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Not even freshman Alex Binelas, who was a little kid watching teams win at the College World Series, took the win to heart.

"We celebrated, but we know we have a lot of games ahead of us,” Binelas said.

Because Tuesday’s rain delay pushed the last five innings against Auburn to Wednesday, the Cardinals will have to win three more games in three days to advance to the College World Series final.

That’s part of the reason why Louisville is so focused on what’s ahead, it doesn't have time to dwell on the past.

But it’s also a byproduct of what U of L coach Dan McDonnell preaches.

“Mac always says, ‘We didn’t come here for some of it. We came here for all of it,’” Kirian said. “Our backs are against the wall a little bit, so every game matters.”

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This year’s team isn’t one without experience in Omaha. Six juniors were in the starting lineup, and juniors Adam Elliott and Michael McAvene took the mound. Elliott earned the win after pitching two scoreless innings.

That 2017 team, which won its first game of the College World Series before losing two straight, thought it had a real chance to win the national championship.

Though many of the players in the lineup were freshmen that year, the experience helps them stay even-keeled after wins, McDonnell said.

“For this group, the juniors and seniors, they won the first game two years ago, and really felt like, 'Man, we've got a chance to win a national championship,' and we ran into Brady Singer and a really good Florida team,” McDonnell said. “They were better than us, and obviously they went on to win the whole thing that year. So we've got a lot of respect for these two teams that are playing right behind us and looking forward to the opportunity that we get to compete again with one of them."

With that experience, focus isn’t something McDonnell worries about with his team. Not even when the team took the field Wednesday after Tuesday’s game got postponed in the fifth inning.

Middle-inning reliever Elliott took the mound for the Cardinals, and Fitzgerald opened the second day with a single in the fifth inning.

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“It’s just like starting a Saturday game,” said Fitzgerald, who finished 2-for-5 with a home run. “You play it like it’s 0-0. We knew Auburn could’ve come back easily.”

Auburn made a slight dent in Louisville’s 4-1 lead when the teams took the field again. It took them time, though.

Elliott, who has not given up a run since May 11 against Virginia.

McDonnell’s plan heading into the second day was to stick with the bullpen. That was just the news the bullpen wanted to hear, Kirian said.

“We can control what we can control,” he said.

A mix of Kirian and McAvene gave up two runs over the course of the final two innings, but never gave up the lead.

Auburn did threaten, though.

In the eighth inning, after getting three straight singles off of McAvene, the Tigers had the bases loaded with two outs.

Holding a 5-2 lead, McAvene struck out Judd Ward to end the inning. In the ninth inning, after giving up a solo home run to Conor Davis, Kirian found himself in trouble as well.

With a runner on second and the tying run at the plate, Kirian responded by striking out Woley to clinch the game.

“It was a big win for us. Where we are, every win is a big win for us, but that’s all I was thinking, just another game and another day,” he said.

The College World Series is broken into two different brackets.

The first, which Louisville is maneuvering its way through one of two double-elimination four-team brackets. The winner of each goes to the final, which is a best-of-three series.

Technically, you can lose two games in the College World Series and still win the national championship. In fact, four of the last five champions have done just that.

McDonnell makes sure to tell his team that fact.

“I'm hoping that losing in Omaha just reminded them, ‘Hey, it's part of it, you don't have to be perfect,’” McDonnell said. “Yeah, there's going to be teams that run the table and they're perfect, but I think Oregon State lost last year and Coastal Carolina lost one in their year. It happens. So hopefully our kids still believe, and I think they do."