COLLEGE WORLD SERIES : Sooner and Later, Cochell Gets His Crown, 13-5

Oklahoma got hot at the right time, and that was enough to give Coach Larry Cochell that elusive College World Series title.

Damon Minor and Rick Gutierrez each drove in three runs Saturday in the Sooners’ record-setting 13-5 victory over Georgia Tech.

Cochell, the only coach to bring three schools to the NCAA tournament championship, had not finished higher than third with Oral Roberts and Cal State Fullerton.

“If you had seen us six weeks ago, we might not have been the best, but we played the best when we had to and won the national championship,” Cochell said.

The run total was a record for a championship finale. A 16-hit assault, matching another title-game record, denied Georgia Tech’s Danny Hall a spot in the record book. He had a chance to become the only coach to win a national title in his first year at a school.

Oklahoma (50-17) entered the game as the hottest-hitting team in the nation and the Sooners didn’t let up. Aric Thomas and Darvin Traylor had three hits each, and four others had two apiece.

“We got hot when we needed to get hot, that’s the key,” Gutierrez said.

Georgia Tech (also 50-17) added to its misery with four errors, giving up five unearned runs in the fourth inning to break a 2-2 tie.

Three errors, a two-run single by M.J. Mariani, an RBI single by Thomas and a bases-loaded walk to Gutierrez sent starter Al Gogolin (12-3) to the bench.

Gutierrez and Rich Hills had RBI singles in the seventh, the latter eclipsing the 12 runs scored by Minnesota in its championship game victory over Arizona in 1956. The hit total matched the CWS record for a finale, set by USC against Arizona in 1978.

Oklahoma center fielder Chip Glass, who batted .389 with three home runs and several key defensive plays in the tournament, was voted the most valuable player.