June 16, 2007

Owls find day vision, score 15 runs
ASSOCIATED PRESS

OMAHA, Neb. — After leaving town quietly last year, Rice opened the College World Series with a statement Friday.

Danny Lehmann doubled in the go-ahead run in a six-run eighth inning, and the Owls had 19 hits in rallying for a 15-10 victory over CWS newcomer Louisville on Friday.

Lehmann not only gave Rice the lead but also ended a CWS-record streak for scoreless innings at 25 when he singled in the Owls' first run, in the third.

"We came in here with a stigma," Rice coach Wayne Graham said. "I knew our kids could hit. They sure proved it today."

The Owls (55-12), the No. 2 national seed, will play Sunday against North Carolina (54-13), an 8-5 winner over Mississippi State, and Louisville (46-23) will face Mississippi State (38-21).

In today's first-round games, Arizona State (48-13) plays UC Irvine (45-15-1), and defending champion Oregon State (44-18) meets Cal State Fullerton (38-23).

Rice, which had a team ERA of 2.83 ERA, figured it had the arms to quell Louisville's potent offense. But Louisville, which had scored 77 runs in eight NCAA tournament games, took leads of 5-0 and 10-4 before Rice pitchers Scott Lonergan and Bobby Bramhall (7-2) combined to hold the Cardinals scoreless the last four innings.

Rice used a three-run fifth inning and homers by Joe Savery in the sixth and Aaron Luna in the seventh to get within 10-9.

"Coming back from six runs down, that's something not a lot of people — including people on the team — probably thought we could do," Savery said.

No. Carolina 8, Mississippi St. 5

OMAHA, Neb. — North Carolina cobbled together six runs in the sixth inning with four hits, two hit batters, a walk and an error to chalk up their fifth come-from-behind win in six NCAA tourney games.

The Tar Heels, the 2006 CWS runner-up and No. 3 national seed, spotted the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead and entered the sixth down 4-2. Carolina sent 11 batters to the plate against Justin Pigott (7-7) and two relievers. A fielding error by third baseman Russ Sneed and Benji Johnson's RBI double tied the game, then John Lalor hit Reid Fronk with a pitch with the bases loaded to force in the go-ahead run.

Tim Federoff's sacrifice fly and Dustin Ackley's two-run single gave the Tar Heels a four-run lead.

Adam Warren (11-0), normally a starter, turned in the longest relief performance of his career, allowing three hits while holding the Bulldogs scoreless in 4 innings.