2003 College World Series Final: Game Three
Complete CWS Index

By John Manuel
June 23, 2003

OMAHA--All season long, the story for Rice was its starting pitching. In the preseason, the talk was about last year's twin aces, righthanders Steven Herce and Philip Humber. The duo combined to win 24 games.

During the regular season, though, the senior Herce was a non-factor thanks to a rotator cuff injury, and Humber was out-shined by fellow sophomores Jeff Niemann and Wade Townsend.

Monday night, though, Humber had the final say with a memorable performance. With a national championship on the line, Humber (11-3) was the best player on the field, dominating the Cardinal lineup that had been the best in the College World Series field. He gave up just five hits through eight innings to lead the Owls to a 14-2 victory against Stanford, earning their first national championship.

"It's redemption, it's validation, it's all those words," said coach Wayne Graham, who won his first Division I national championship after winning five in the junior-college ranks. "It's a tribute to pitching and defense. We had a lot to prove, and we still have a lot to prove. We want to do it again."

Rice (58-12) won its first national title in any team sport and became the first "new" CWS champion since Pepperdine won its first-ever title in 1992. The Cardinal (51-18) finished as runner up for the third time in four seasons and exceeded the embarrassment of its 12-1 title-game loss to Miami in 2001, becoming the worst title-game loss in CWS history.

"Losing the title game is the same feeling no matter if you're a freshman, sophomore or junior," said Stanford center fielder Sam Fuld, a starter on that 2001 club. "This one is a little harder to get over because when you're a freshman, you feel like you'll be back every year. Now obviously our time is winding down."

Humber struck out five--including pinch-hitter John Mayberry Jr. on a 92 mph fastball in the eighth--and out-pitched Stanford's Mark Romanczuk (12-2). The freshman lefthander entered the Series at 12-0 but had three forgettable performances in Omaha, losing starts to Cal State Fullerton and Rice. Romanczuk just couldn't throw strikes: He made 50 pitches and just 19 were strikes, and he walked five in the first inning as the Owls jumped out to a three-run lead.

It wasn't great television: Chris Kolkhorst walked, and Craig Stansberry singled to right field for the inning's only hit. Romanczuk walked Vincent Sinisi and then Enrique Cruz to force in one run, then looked ready to get out of the inning. He struck out Paul Janish and got a pop out from Austin Davis, then lost the strike zone again. He walked DH Jeff Blackinton on a 3-2 pitch to force in a second run, then walked Dane Bubela to make it 3-0.

He got out of that inning on Justin Ruchti's groundout, but Romanczuk walked Kolkhorst to lead off the second, and that was enough. Matt Manship entered in relief, but a bunt single, walk and fielder's choice grounder by Janish brought home a fourth run.

That gave Humber a cushion to work with, and he put it into cruise control, throwing curveballs and splitters for strikes to set up his fastball. He was efficient, taking advantage of the Cardinal's aggressiveness by pitching off his slower stuff. In doing so, he held down a Cardinal offense that entered the game hitting .293 for the Series and averaging seven runs a game. Stanford didn't have two baserunners until the seventh inning, when a double, single and groundout ended the shutout.

"Philip's curveball was a little sloppy in the bullpen, but he was able to get his split-finger (fastball) over for strikes, and that was the key for him," catcher Justin Ruchti said. "It looks like a fastball (coming out of his hand), and he got a lot of lazy fly balls and weak groundouts because of it."

Humber struck out eight in his first CWS start, against Texas, but lasted only 3 2/3 innings as he also walked five and hit three batters. This time, he was much sharper as he did something Niemann and Townsend could not--threw a complete game in Rosenblatt Stadium.

"I was overshadowed by those guys for a reason--they're great pitchers," Humber said. "It seems like I haven't won in six weeks, but today I was able to throw all my pitches for strikes. Jeff and Wade have carried us all year, and tonight I was able to do my part.

"They're a first-pitch fastball team, and I wanted to stay away from that, get my curve over and then use my split to get outs. Last time I was trying too hard to miss bats, but this time I wanted to trust my stuff and hit bats and let my defense work for me."

Rice's defense entered the Series fielding .980 for the season, and Monday's game was a perfect example of how good the defense was all year. It wasn't the spectacular plays, it was just that Rice made all the plays. After making three errors in the first two games, Vincent Sinisi made some tough plays at first on hard-hit liners and never gave up on a foul pop in the first that floated back over the field. Shortstop Paul Janish continued his fine series, showing off his arm on a couple of deep grounders in the hole, and third baseman Craig Stansberry made several sterling stops.

"We've got three shortstops out there," said Graham, whose defense made just six errors in the Series.

The score might have been uglier. Manship held the Owls at bay for four innings, getting help with a pair of baserunners thrown out at the plate. In the fourth, Kolkhorst was thrown out when a would-be wild pitch bounced back to Ryan Garko, who fed Manship for an unusual 2-1 putout at the plate. In the fifth, Ruchti lashed a line drive off the wall in left, but Danny Putnam and Tobin Swope executed the relay perfectly, and Garko tagged out Bubela, who was trying to score from first, at the plate.

But Stanford just couldn't throw the ball over the plate. Six pitchers combined to hand out 12 walks, a season-high and the most since the team's season opener in 2001 against Cal Poly.

"We just didn't throw enough strikes and we gave them too many free baserunners," Stanford coach Mark Marquess said. "We couldn't give them a game today."

Walks helped the Owls make the title game a laugher in the bottom of the sixth, scoring seven runs to tie for their earlier showing against Texas for the biggest inning in the Series. Kolkhorst, the self-proclaimed "Gritman," reached the fourth straight at-bat, opening the frame with a double. Craig Stansberry was curiously given an intentional walk, and Sinisi followed with a single to left to load the bases.

Drew Ehrlich relieved and threw gas on the fire, as Cruz chopped a two-run single over Jonny Ash's head into left field to make it 6-0. Janish followed with a two-run double to make it 8-0, and that was basically the game. RBI singles from Bubela and Kolkhorst off reliever Mark Jecmen finished the carnage.

ROSENBLASTS

• The crowd of 18,494 fans at Rosenblatt Stadium was the smallest for a championship game since 1992. The total attendance for the Series was 260,091, a record though it came with an extra pair of games. The average per session was 21,674, fourth-highest in CWS history.

• It's the first championship for the Western Athletic Conference since Arizona State (now in the Pac-10) won it all in 1977, and gives the state of Texas back-to-back championships after the Texas Longhorns won it all last year.

• Fuld had to wait through a blowout, but he lined an RBI single in the eighth off Humber to break Keith Moreland's career CWS hits record, finishing with a 1-for-4 night. His nine hits in this Series brought his total to 24, and the 24th-round pick of the Cubs may return for his senior season. He received a standing ovation from the Rosenblatt crowd. "It's a record I can't appreciate right now, but I didn't realize the crowd was clapping for me," Fuld said. "That made me feel a little better, but the feeling was definitely more bitter than sweet."

• Stanford senior catcher Ryan Garko finished up hitting .402-18-92, tying Stanford's single-season RBIs record and becoming the first Cardinal hitter to hit .400 since David McCarty in 1991.

• Stanford righthander John Hudgins won Most Outstanding Player honors, becoming the fourth player from a losing team to win the award in the last 11 years. He joined Cal State Fullerton's Phil Nevin (1992), Miami's Pat Burrell (1996) and Florida State's Marshall McDougall (1999) in doing so.

• The rest of the all-tournament team: C--Ryan Garko, Stanford. 1B--Curtis Thigpen, Texas. 2B--Enrique Cruz, Rice. 3B--Jonny Ash, Stanford. SS--Justin Turner, Cal State Fullerton. OF--Chris Kolkhorst, Rice; Danny Putnam, Stanford; Carlos Quentin, Stanford. DH--P.J. Pilittere, Cal State Fullerton. P--John Hudgins, Stanford; Jeff Niemann, Rice.