CWS Notebook

Hudgins feels for teammates in lopsided final

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- John Hudgins had done all he could for Stanford.

The College World Series' Most Outstanding Player couldn't do anything more than watch as the Cardinal lost in the championship game for the third time in four years.

Rice's 14-2 victory over Stanford on Monday night gave the Owls their first team title in any NCAA sport.

Hudgins (14-3) tied a tournament record with three victories, including a survival game Sunday when he threw seven innings in an 8-3 win. He also tied a CWS record with four career victories.

"I thought it went well," Hudgins said of his week in Omaha. "Unfortunately it wasn't quite enough for us, and this is about the team.

"We come back through the losers' bracket and play well, get to the championship game, but this is disappointing," he said. "I thought we battled and played our hearts out, but we'll move on."

Omaha treated to 16 games over 11 days

The 2003 College World Series was the longest on record with a best-of-three championship series deciding the 11-day tournament.

Rice won the title with a 14-2 victory over Stanford on Monday night in Game 16. It was the first best-of-three championship series in the event since 1948.

Future tournaments could go to 17 games if bracket winners fail to go unbeaten, as Rice did this year. The fewest games possible under the new format would be 14 if both bracket winners are unbeaten and the title is decided in two games.

The championship game attendance of 18,494 brought the tournament total to a record 260,091, breaking the old mark of 233,762 set last year. The 12-session average of 21,674 was only fourth-highest on record, however.

Championship turnaround

Rice had 14 hits in the championship game, raising the team's batting average to a tournament-best .279 for six games.

The Owls entered Monday's final hitting .253, which was fifth among the eight CWS teams.

Stanford entered the title game hitting .293, but the five hits allowed by Rice's Philip Humber dropped the Cardinal's average to .278.

CWS records

Twenty CWS records were broken and 14 were tied. Rice matched one with its seven runs in the sixth inning of Monday's title game. Southern California scored seven runs against Missouri in the 1958 championship.

Sam Fuld of Stanford broke the career hit total of 23 set by former Texas great Keith Moreland in 1973-75. Fuld singled in the eighth for his 24th hit in three visits to Omaha.

Cardinal pitcher John Hudgins tied the CWS record with three wins in a tournament and the career CWS mark with four. Seven pitchers have won three games in one tournament and nine have four career wins.

Stanford played a record eight games in the CWS.

Jonny Ash's first at-bat Monday was his 33rd of the tournament, breaking the record of 32 by Art Moossman of Holy Cross in seven games in 1952. Ash had two more at-bats before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the eighth.

Cardinal pitcher Matt Manship broke the tournament record with six hit batsmen, including five in one game. Stanford pitchers also established a record with 13 hit batters for the 2003 event.

School records

Rice and Stanford broke a handful of their own school records along the way.

Rice broke team pitching records for most strikeouts (653), saves (20) and shutouts (10).

Individually, Owls sophomore Jeff Niemann set a record for most wins in a year (17), reliever David Aardsma set a season record for saves (12), appearances in a season (40) and upped his school career record for saves (17). Wade Townsend set a season strikeout record with 164.

Stanford ace John Hudgins broke the innings pitched record in a season for the Cardinal with 165 1/3. Sam Fuld tied the school season record for runs with 83 and catcher Ryan Garko tied the season RBI record with 92.

First time champs

Rice became the 21st team to win a College World Series title. The last new team to join the championship list was Pepperdine in 1992.

Rice is the first team from Texas other than Texas to win the CWS. The only other Lone Star State team to play in a final was Houston in 1967. The Cougars lost 11-7 to Arizona State in the final.

The runner-up finish was the third for Stanford since 2000. Only Arizona State (5), Oklahoma State (5) and Texas (4) have finished second at the CWS more than Stanford. The Cardinal join Arizona, Florida State, Missouri, South Carolina and Wichita State as three-time runners-up.

 

Related information

Stories

2003 College World Series Coverage Rice wins first NCAA title with 11-1 rout of Stanford

Multimedia

Visit Video Plus for the latest audio and video