OMAHA—Texas starter Chance Ruffin was outstanding tonight, striking out 10 over 5 1/3 innings before leaving with a 3-1 lead and runners on the corners and two outs in the sixth. Texas took him out after 87 pitches, apparently because of cramps, and Austin Wood allowed Jared Mitchell to tie the game with a two-run triple to left-center. Mitchell seems to be hitting his stride at the right time—he’s hit three balls hard tonight after homering Friday.

Speaking of players hitting their strides at the right time, Texas answered in the bottom of the sixth with a solo homer to left by Russell Moldenhauer, his second of the game. Moldenhauer had already become the first player since Stanford’s Jonny Ash in 2003 to hit his first two home runs of the season at the CWS; now he has hit his first three homers of the year in Omaha.

It’s 4-3 Texas, and we’ve got a good one on our hands.