Zach Lucas got home Saturday afternoon and just couldn’t get the University of Louisville baseball team’s Game 1 loss of the super regional to Cal State Fullerton out of his mind.

Louisville had wasted 11 runners and Fullerton scored the game-winning run on a hit batsman, pushing the No. 3 national seed U of L to brink of elimination in the NCAA tournament. Losing in that fashion, and the prospect of ending one of the best seasons in program history short of the College World Series, did not sit well with Lucas, Louisville’s third baseman and one of its senior leaders.

He pulled out his phone and delivered a group text message to his teammates.

“I just told them to visualize that we’re winning the national championship, to get that in their head,” Lucas said. “Just let them know that we’re going to be all right, that we’ve done this all year. If there is a team that could come back and win both games like we’re about to do, it’s us.”

Lucas said the text prompted a bunch of fired-up responses from teammates, and it helped fuel an emotional 9-3 Louisville rout in Sunday’s Game 2 at Jim Patterson Stadium, a victory that forced a third and decisive game in this best-of-three series.

Game 3 is set for 7 p.m. Monday, with ESPN2 carrying the broadcast. A win would send Louisville to its third consecutive College World Series.

“We weren’t ready to be done,” said junior first baseman Danny Rosenbaum, who was 4 for 5 with an RBI. “This is one of my favorite teams I’ve been on, and all I could think about was I don’t want to end it here.”

Louisville (47-17) came out swinging, ripping 16 hits. And with a four-run sixth inning, the Cards turned what had been a tight contest into a lopsided fight.

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