 "Photo: Ted Kirk/The Associated Press")
Entering the final week of the College World Series, the Florida Gators (47-20) and Texas Longhorns (53-16) remain 2-0 in the tournament and need just three more victories to be crowned the 2005 National Champions.
A new champion is guaranteed with defending champion Cal State Fullerton at home following a Super Regional loss to Arizona State. The double-elimination tournament began last Friday, pitting the eight teams who advanced from the Super Regionals in Omaha for the championship tournament.
The SEC and the Big 12 once again displayed baseball supremacy, placing two and three teams, respectively, in the series. The regular-season SEC champion Gators were paired with the Tennessee Volunteers (46-21) in the opening game of the tournament. Despite claiming a best-of-three series in the regular season, Tennessee and its ace pitcher Luke Hochevar were dominated early in the game, allowing Florida to claim a 6-4 victory and advance to the winner's bracket.
The Volunteers would next see the winner of the opening day pairing of Nebraska (57-15) and Arizona State (41-24). The Cornhuskers rallied for a 5-3 victory, their first ever in the CWS, to extend their winning streak to 11 games and face Florida in the winner's bracket.
Tennessee became the first team eliminated from tournament play Sunday after allowing a three-run eighth inning for Arizona State. The Sun Devils took the 4-2 victory and awaited the Florida-Nebraska game for their elimination tilt.
With the second-largest crowd in CWS history at 26,813 fans, the hometown Cornhuskers collected 12 hits but could not capitalize on them, as the Gators moved within one game of the championship round with a 7-4 victory. The elimination-game rematch between Arizona State and Nebraska was scheduled for Tuesday at 2 p.m., with the winner needing to defeat the Gators two times in two days to advance.
The opposite side of the bracket featured No. 8 Oregon State (46-12) against Tulane (56-11) and Baylor (45-23) against Texas.
The favored Green Wave used late momentum to score in the final two innings and defeat the Oregon State Beavers 3-1. Texas, the most experienced team in the field with 32 CWS appearances, used that familiarity with Rosenblatt Stadium to defeat the Bears, the first appearance for Baylor since 1978.
In the elimination game, Baylor received a surprising hit from pinch hitter Mike Pankratz to win its first-ever game in the CWS. Batting .193 on the season, Pankratz blooped a 10th inning RBI-single to register his first hit since April 24 and extend the Bears' season. In the winner's bracket, Texas recorded a 5-0 shutout, its first in the tournament since 1983, to advance to 2-0 in the tournament. The victory set a new record for College World Series wins, surpassing Southern California's 74 total victories.
Top-seeded Tulane was scheduled to face Baylor in an elimination game Tuesday at 7 p.m. The winner will need to defeat the Longhorns twice in two days to advance to the championship round.
The championship round is also double elimination and will be held Saturday and Sunday, with game three to be played Monday if necessary. All games will be televised by ESPN, with Saturday's time set for 7 p.m. and Sunday's game set for 2 p.m. If necessary, the game on Monday is set for 7 p.m.
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