End of the Tigers' tale

~ Dominguez led Louisville to a 16-6 victory in the regional final.

COLUMBIA, Mo. -- Chris Dominguez silenced a hostile crowd while carrying underdog Louisville to its first NCAA regional title.

The redshirt freshman answered a chorus of boos with a grand slam that highlighted an eight-run first inning and he added a three-run shot in the fourth, helping the third-seeded Cardinals beat top seed Missouri 16-6 in the championship game of the Columbia Regional on Monday.

"I was a little nervous, to tell you the truth," Dominguez said. "I've never been in a place where so many people boo me and stuff like that.

"Everybody thinks I'm a bad guy, but it's not true. It fired me up a little bit."

Missouri's Jacob Priday, left, John McKee, center, and Brant Combs sat on the bench after Monday's 16-6 loss to Louisville in the NCAA Columbia Regional final in Columbia, Mo. (L.G. PATTERSON ~ Associated Press)

Dominguez homered four times in the last three games, including a pair of crucial two-run shots Sunday that helped keep the third-seeded Cardinals (44-21) alive. He was also the villain of the tournament after showboating when his eighth-inning shot snapped a tie in Sunday's 4-3 victory over Missouri.

Dominguez battled minor injuries throughout the season and even after his 8-for-19 splurge in the regional with 11 RBIs, he's batting .264 with 11 homers and 53 RBIs -- fourth-best on the team.

"You come watch us taking B.P., I don't want to put down our other players, but it's a man with boys at times," Louisville coach McDonnell said. "We always knew it was in him. We always thought he could carry us."

Missouri ace Aaron Crow, who threw a complete game to beat Kent State on Friday, started on two days' rest and allowed seven runs in 2/3 of an inning. Aaron Senne homered for Missouri (42-18), which finished second in the Big 12 and hosted a regional for the first time. But the Tigers finally collapsed after allowing Louisville a season-high 21 hits.

Missouri coach Tim Jamieson said Crow never got a chance to find his stride because of Louisville's aggressive lineup.

Louisville's Logan Johnson, center, raises his arms in victory Monday, June 4, 2007, after they defeated Missouri 16-6 in their NCAA Regional baseball championship game in Columbia, Mo. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson)

"In the first 30 pitches, they swung at about 25 of them," Jamieson said. "Aaron is at his best when he pumps in strikes, and it just wasn't a good matchup for him."

Jorge Castillo added a three-run homer for Louisville, which also eliminated perennial power Miami while earning the first four NCAA tournament victories in school history in only its second appearance. Dominguez was 8-for-19 overall with 11 RBIs and Castillo was 9-for-22 with 11 RBIs.

The Cardinals batted .380 in the regional, totaling 46 runs and 73 hits with eight homers in five tournament games. Louisville scored in double digits for the 17th time overall while ending up one run shy of their season best.

They opened the game with four straight singles off Crow (9-4). Castillo struck out before Dominguez cleared the center-field wall, and Daniel Burton added a two-run single in the inning.

Missouri briefly made it a game with a five-run second that cut the deficit to three, but Louisville added one in the bottom of the inning, three in the fourth and four in the fifth. Missouri pitchers surrendered a season-worst 19 hits.

Louisville's Chris Dominguez smacks a hit Monday, June 4, 2007 during Louisville's 16-6 victory over Missouri in an NCAA Regional college baseball championship game in Columbia, Mo. Dominguez was named Most Outstanding Player for the regional hitting four home runs and getting 11 runs batted in. (AP Photo/L.G. Patterson)

Missouri fell just short of a second straight Super Regional berth. The Tigers had anticipated also hosting one of the best of three, two-team events, and would have played Oklahoma State.

The path to the College World Series looked enticing, considering Missouri has four straight victories over Oklahoma State in the last 2 1/2 weeks.

"At some point, we're going to be able to look at this as a real positive thing for the program," Jamieson said. "It hurts quite a bit right now, because we felt like this was a team that could play quite a bit further into the summer."