Closer David Aardsma, #14, helped the Rice Owls claim their seventh straight Western Athletic Conference title.
great students. They make us proud. This is intercollegiate athletics at its very best, and now the whole country knows it.” This battle of the best opened in thrilling fashion. In the first game of the three-game series, junior Chris Kolkhorst, a fearless left fielder and emotional sparkplug of the Rice team, made spectacular catches in the eighth and ninth innings to preserve a 3–3 tie, then scored the winning run for Rice with two out in the bottom of the 10th. Stanford evened the series the next day with an 8–3 win, as Cardinal pitcher John Hudgins (named the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament) stifled the Owls to earn his record-tying third victory of the College World Series. Then it was down to a single game on Monday night, June 23, for the national title. Unleashing eight decades of athletic frustration, Rice jumped to an 11–0 lead and went on to rout the exhausted Cardinals 14–2. “We played the best game we played all year,” said a relieved and jubilant Graham. The Owls finished the season with a 58–12 record, including 10 shutouts and an inspiring 5–1 mark in extra-inning games. Rice’s overall winning percentage of .829 is the best in school history and was second-best in the nation in 2003.
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opening game of the CWS, needing just 87 pitches over eight innings to defeat Southwest Missouri State and put Rice in the all-important winner’s bracket. (See sidebar.) Not to be outdone, the gregarious Townsend amassed an 11–2 record and struck out 164 batters, a school record. Like Niemann, he had perhaps his best performance on the biggest stage, striking out 10 Texas Longhorns in Rice’s 12–2 win.
#7 Chris Kolkhorst
itching and Defense
The keys to this success were a potent combination of brilliant defense and nearly invincible pitching. Rice’s fielding percentage of .980 was second best in the country, as was the Owls’ team-earned run average of 2.74. “There will always be good breaks and bad breaks,” says Coach Graham, “but the things that allow you to overcome the bad breaks are pitching and defense. I told the team before we came to Omaha that we’ve got to be so good that we don’t need any breaks. I thought our pitching, particularly, and our defense were great.” Senior closer David Aardsma and three sophomore starters—Jeff Niemann, Wade Townsend, and Philip Humber— formed the core of one of the best pitching staffs in the history of college baseball. Aardsma set school records with 12 saves this year and 17 for his Rice career. He was the firstround draft pick of the San Francisco Giants and is now pitching for their Class A team in San Jose. Niemann, a towering 6'9" right-hander, set a Rice record for victories with a spotless 17–0 season and a breathtaking 1.70 ERA. He had perhaps his best performance in Rice’s
Summer ’03
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