On a day when the starters struggled, the Rice bullpen was the difference in this winner-take-all tilt. Cole St. Clair relieved Craig Crow with two outs in the first and threw 5 1/3 solid innings before being relieved by Bryce Cox. St. Clair was the victor for the Owls, improving to 6-2 while Bryce Cox picked up his third save of the season by throwing three shutout innings.

Rice knocked the Oklahoma starter out of the game in the first inning as well, and after 4 effective innings John Brownell struggled in the sixth and was knocked out of the game. Sooner closer Will Savage provided little relief as the Owls opened up a four run lead in the seventh. Brownell lost his first game against five wins on the season after allowing three runs in 4 1/3 innings.

Josh Rodriguez and Joe Savery were the offensive stars for the #2 national seed. Third baseman Rodriguez was 3-for-4 on the afternoon while driving in five runs and hitting his eleventh homer of the season in the first. Savery only provided one hit, but his three-run homer in the sixth broke open a 5-4 game and gave Rice its eventual margin of victory. Aaron Luna also homered for the Owls, who had nine long balls in the series.

Russell Raley scored three of the Sooners runs while collecting three hits on the afternoon. Kevin Smith drove in two runs while the meat of the OU order knocked out five hits on ten at bats in their season finale.

After winning five straight elimination games, Oklahoma was unable to rally after Rice scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth. Rice has now won in four of their six Super Regional appearances, including three out of four three game series. Oklahoma finishes their first Super Regional with a 1-2 record and has not advanced to Omaha since 1995.

Rice advances to their first College World Series since their national title run in 2003. The Owls have a 6-7 record in their previous four trips to Omaha, with five of the victories coming in their last appearance.