Rice moves to brink of its 1st national title

OMAHA, Neb. -- Chris Kolkhorst scored from second base on Stanford pitcher Kodiak Quick's throwing error, giving Rice a 4-3 victory in 10 innings Saturday night in the first game of the College World Series championship round.

Stanford starter Ryan McCally pitched into the 10th and issued a leadoff walk to Kolkhorst, who moved to second on Dane Bubela's sacrifice. Quick came on and struck out Vincent Sinisi, but Austin Davis hit a soft grounder that the Stanford reliever picked up to the left of the pitcher's mound.

Quick's hurried throw sailed past first baseman Brian Hall, who collided with Davis and was flat on his back as Kolkhorst scored the winning run. Hall was not seriously injured.

The teams play the second game of the best-of-three series today, with Rice (57-11) a victory away from the school's first national title in any sport. Stanford (50-17) must win to keep alive its hopes of winning its first CWS title since 1988.

Rice's Jeff Niemann, bidding to become the first unbeaten 18-game winner in Division I history, didn't get a decision after pitching eight strong innings.