Rice 5, Texas 4

By ERIC OLSON
Associated Press Writer

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) Rice's Justin Ruchti knew what pitch was coming from Texas closer Huston Street and where it was going to be. All Ruchti had to do was get his bat on it.

He did.

Ruchti's RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Rice a 5-4 victory Wednesday night and sent the Owls to the College World Series championship round.

Rice (56-11) eliminated the defending national champion Longhorns (50-20), and will play the winner of Thursday's Stanford-Cal State Fullerton game in a best-of-three series starting Saturday.

Rice will be playing for its first national title in any sport.

Street (8-1), last year's CWS Most Outstanding Player, lost for the first time in 12 decisions dating to March 8, 2002.

Street threw four straight sliders before Ruchti lined the fifth into center field to drive in pinch-runner Matt Cavanaugh.

``I knew that was his 'out' pitch, and I figured he'd stay away,'' Ruchti said. ``He happened to leave it up, and I got it pretty good.''

Rice's Jeff Blackinton led off the ninth and reached on an error when his grounder rolled up second baseman Tim Moss' left arm and off his chest.

Cavanaugh took second on Dane Bubela's sacrifice and scored after Ruchti hit Street's 2-2 pitch. Texas center fielder Joe Ferin tried to charge the ball for a possible throw to the plate, but it got past him and Cavanaugh easily scored the winning run.

``I was going after him with my best stuff,'' Street said. ``I got ahead of him with my slider. I didn't think he'd expect five in a row, but he was right on it.''

Ruchti, the Owls' catcher and No. 9 batter, was 2-for-4 with three RBIs. He also threw out two Longhorns stealing.

``It was one of the more memorable games of my life,'' he said. ``To put us in the championship series, that's what you dream of as a little kid.''

Rice won in spite of its three pitchers combining to walk nine and hit four batters and its defense committing three errors.

``That shows the heart of this team,'' Rice coach Wayne Graham said. ``I couldn't be prouder of them.''

Texas left 15 runners on base, two in the top of the ninth.

``There were opportunities to score that were missed opportunities,'' Texas coach Augie Garrido said. ``It came down to a line drive that didn't find its way into a glove, and a runner was on second base. That's what separated the teams that line drive.''

David Aardsma (6-3) got the win after getting four outs in relief of starter Philip Humber and Josh Baker.

Rice used a four-run fourth to take a 4-3 lead against Texas starter J.P. Howell, who was working on three days' rest after a 115-pitch, six-inning outing in a 13-2 win over Miami.

Enrique Cruz scored to make it 3-1 when Street, playing third base, couldn't handle Blackinton's grounder. Another run came in on Bubela's ground-rule double, and two more scored on a single by Ruchti.

Texas tied it at 4 in the fifth against Baker on a controversial play at second.

Baker walked Michael Hollimon, who then stole second. Umpire Randy Bruns called Hollimon safe on the play even though television replays clearly showed shortstop Paul Janish had tagged him well before Hollimon reached the base. Graham darted out of the dugout to argue the call.

Hollimon later scored on Omar Quintanilla's single up the middle.

The Longhorns threatened in the ninth, but Aardsma, the Owls' ace closer, worked out of the jam. With one out, he hit Taylor Teagarden with a pitch and Street reached on Janish's error one out later. But Aardsma struck out Moss to end the inning.

``I knew I had to beat him with something,'' Aardsma said. ``I just reared back, and he went chasing my fast ball.''

Moments later, Moss committed the error that led to Rice's winning run.

``I can't let Tim or any individual player take the hit for this,'' Garrido said. ``We could have had 12 runs and that hit wouldn't have meant anything. It's not about one guy. We don't hold Huston Street responsible for giving up the hit. We don't hold Tim responsible for making the error. At this point, this team isn't capable of pointing a finger at anyone and saying, 'It's your fault.' ``

(Copyright 2003 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)