COLLEGE WORLD SERIES Young pitchers will battle with title at stake

Stanford can win its third title with a win over Rice tonight.
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) -- Freshman Mark Romanczuk went to Stanford for the opportunity to win a baseball national championship.
The left-hander will play a major role in determining whether the Cardinal (51-17) win their first title since 1988. He'll start tonight's deciding game against Rice (57-12) in the College World Series championship series.
"This is why we get up at 7 o'clock in the morning to run every day," Romanczuk said. "This is why we play all year. This is why I've played baseball all my life."
Romanczuk (12-1) will go against Rice sophomore Philip Humber (10-3) in the final game of the best-of-3 series.
The Cardinal kept alive its hopes for its third national title with an 8-3 victory on Sunday. Rice won 4-3 in 10 innings Saturday.
Ready to go
Stanford will become the first team in CWS history to play eight games, but center fielder Sam Fuld said fatigue is not a factor.
"It shouldn't be hard to get up for national championship games," Fuld said. "The coaches keep telling us we have all summer to rest."
Maybe no one in the CWS deserves rest more than Stanford's John Hudgins, who earned his third win in Omaha on Sunday -- something no other Cardinal pitcher has done.
"We've had some great pitchers at Stanford, but I don't think any of the pitchers from any of the teams I've brought here has accomplished what John has accomplished during these 10 days," Stanford coach Mark Marquess said. "I don't know whether it can be matched. Pressure games. Short rest. Just a phenomenal job."
Strong showing
Hudgins (14-3) became the eighth pitcher to win three games in the tournament, and first since Wichita State's Greg Brummett in 1989. He also became one of 10 pitchers to win four CWS games in their careers.
Hudgins, who beat South Carolina in Stanford's CWS opener and Cal State Fullerton on Wednesday, held Rice to three runs on 10 hits in seven-plus innings. He walked three and struck out five.
In 24 CWS innings, the junior right-hander has allowed five earned runs, walked six and struck out 15.
"For me, not being a real power pitcher, even if I don't have my best stuff, I'm still going to be able to spot, and that's how I win anyway," Hudgins said. "I focused on location. I wasn't going to blow anyone away anyway."
Fuld homered leading off the bottom of the first inning to tie Texas' Keith Moreland for most career CWS hits, with 23.
The Cardinal added two more runs in the third against starter Wade Townsend (11-2) when Brian Hall scored from third on Townsend's wild pitch, and Tobin Swope scored on Carlos Quentin's RBI single.
Rice got within 3-1 in the fourth when Quentin lost track of Matt Ueckert's fly ball in right field. The ball dropped between Quentin and center fielder Fuld, allowing Craig Stansberry to score from second.
Stanford, helped by Rice first baseman Vincent Sinisi's two rare errors, built its lead to 8-1 in the seventh.