We had major controversy in the bottom of the first inning. With a 1-0 lead, Rice starter Matt Langwell loaded the bases with a pair of walks and a single. After getting a big strikeout of Craig Stinson, Langwell induced a ground ball to the right side from Luke Anders. RIce went for a 3-6-1 double play, but the relay to first base was just late, and two runs scored on the play. Then second-base umpire Steve Mattingly came running in calling time, because he called interference on Blake Stouffer's slide at second base, completing the double play and negating both runs. Replays showed Stouffer slid just to the right of second base, but his inside leg was in line with the outside corner of the base. Truly a borderline call, but NCAA officials in the press box said Mattingly made the correct decision.

Calls in the next two half innings, however, were more obviously wrong. In the top of the second, A&M was denied a possible interference call of its own when home-plate umpire David Savage ruled that Brian Friday did not interfere with Josh Stinson's chance to throw out Danny Lehmann stealing second base. In the bottom of the second, Stinson clearly fouled a pitch off his foot, but he was thrown out when no umpire called the ball foul.

Meanwhile, Joe Savery (glad to be facing a righthander) was leading the Rice offense. After a Brian Friday double in the first, Savery singled in his favorite spot up the middle to give Rice a 1-0 lead. In the third, with A&M shortstop Brandon Hicks shading up the middle, Savery showcased his opposite-field power by crushing an outside fastball over the left-field fence to give Rice a 2-0 lead.

I'm sure this already feels like a long blog. It was a long game, so bear with me. Rice loaded the bases with nobody out against Kyle Thebeau in the fourth on a hit batter (one of three by Thebeau), and infield dribbler and a bunt base hit. But lefthander Kirkland Rivers came in to get Henley to hit into a double play and Savery to ground out, allowing just one run and keeping it a 3-0 game.

A&M pulled a run back in the fourth on back-to-back doubles by Josh Stinson and Darby Brown, but Langwell recovered to retire the next seven batters and keep Rice in the lead. The Owls made it 4-1 in the seventh on a triple by Tyler Henley (which pulled him into a tie for second place with 15 career triples at Rice) and an RBI single by Savery past a drawn-in infield.

Word trickled down that Dog the Bounty Hunter, the uncle of Rice catcher Danny Lehmann, is in attendance and has appeared on the Rice radio broadcast this evening. You can't make that stuff up. You should've seen the crowd when Rice (and Lehmann) played in Hawaii with Dog in attendance.

Rice might have set an unofficial record with six (should have been seven, but for a generous official scorer) sacrifice bunts in the first two games of the series. The Owls got a slightly bizarre one in the eighth when reliever Gary Campfield tagged Lehmann out after his safety squeeze, but first-base umpire Paul Guillie had a poor angle and called Lehmann safe. After conferring, the umpires correctly ruled Lehmann had been tagged out, but the run (of course) counted.

Rice closer Cole St.Clair came on in the seventh inning and labored through a 28-pitch eighth that included a solo home run from Blake Stouffer, cutting the Rice lead to 5-2. The bottom of the eighth was fairly uneventful, save the final at-bat at Reckling Park for Joe Savery. He flew out harmlessly to left field but still drew a standing ovation from the crowd. Savery tipped his batting helmet in response.

Speedster Ben Feltner led off with a pinch-hit bunt in the ninth, but St.Clair made a ridiculous play to glove flip to first base in time for the out. With the crowd on its feet after a fly out, St.Clair got senior Parker Dalton to pop out to Savery in foul territory to clinch Rice's return to Omaha. The Owl celebration was emotional but slightly muted - I think Rice is saving the dogpile for a different venue.