Owls, Aggies and Cowboys Earn Berths

Jeff Nichols pitched six strong innings as Rice earned a berth in the College World Series for the second time in three years with an 8-3 victory over Southwestern Louisiana in a super-regional game Sunday at Houston.

Nichols (15-3) held USL to eight hits and three runs. The right-hander struck out five and walked six.

The Owls (58-13) open the CWS against Miami. USL finished the season 42-24.

Texas A&M; 5, Clemson 4--Texas A&M;’s Steve Scarborough and Steven Truitt hit ninth-inning solo home runs to power the Aggies at College Station, Texas.

Texas A&M; (52-16) opens CWS play against Florida State.

Scarborough and Truitt hit the first home runs of the year off Clemson reliever Chris Heck (6-1), the winning pitcher in Saturday’s victory by Clemson (42-27).

Oklahoma State 6, Baylor 2--Oklahoma State advanced by scoring six times in the last two innings for a come-from-behind victory at Waco, Texas.

The win sends the Cowboys (46-19) to Omaha for the first time since 1996. They did it with three-run rallies in the eighth and ninth innings. Senior shortstop Billy Gasparino hit two two-run singles and scored the go-ahead run.