Garrido guides Texas to fifth CWS title

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Posted 8:06AM on Monday, June 24, 2002

OMAHA, Neb. - Texas knew what it wanted when it went after Augie Garrido. The Longhorns hadn't won a College World Series title in 13 years and were intent on ending the drought. Garrido had won three national titles with Cal State Fullerton. On Saturday, everything came together. Texas captured its fifth national title by beating South Carolina 12-6. ``The mark for coaching this team is coming to the College World Series,'' Garrido said. ``That's where it starts. And the real mark is when you win it.'' Garrido is the only coach to win the CWS with two schools. He won national championships with the Titans in 1979, '84 and '95, and has the third most CWS titles. Only Southern California's Rod Dedeaux (10) and Skip Bertman of LSU (5) have won more. Garrido came to Texas after the 1996 season and replaced Cliff Gustafson, who had more wins (1,427) than any other Division I baseball coach. Garrido has 1,379 career victories in his 34 seasons, second only to Gustafson. Garrido took the Longhorns to the CWS in 2000, their first trip to Omaha since 1993, and went 0-2. Texas returned for its 29th CWS this year as one of the favorites. The orange-clad fans finally got their first chance to sing ``The Eyes of Texas'' in celebration since Texas' 1983 national title. Garrido was not the only Longhorn to reach a milestone Saturday. One of his 18-year-old freshman, reliever Huston Street, became the first player to save four games in a CWS and was voted Most Outstanding Player. Only three other freshman have received the honor, the last being Miami's Pat Burrell in 1996. The son of former Texas football and baseball player James Street pitched 6 1-3 innings in his four appearances, allowing one run on two hits, struck out five and walked three. ``I was praying before the whole thing started that when I came in we were up 10-2 and there wouldn't be any save opportunities,'' Street said. ``I give credit to the team behind me.'' Garrido's fourth title included one of his most memorable decisions. Shortly after batting practice he decided to start senior Chris Carmichael in left field and have him hit in the No. 7 spot for the Longhorns (57-15). Carmichael, who sat out last season with a wrist injury and was 0-for-1 in his only CWS appearance, hit a three-run homer that put the Longhorns up 7-2 in the fifth. ``It was just an intuition,'' Garrido said. ``I knew he would play hard. that's the whole criteria for our team it's about running the ball out. You're not going to have a good day, but I knew he'd do that.'' Carmichael's homer to right came off Aaron Rawl (7-2). Carmichael, who had just one homer this season before Saturday, leaped when the ball cleared, pointed at teammates as he trotted down the third-base line. He spun his arms in a windmill as he touched home and was swarmed by teammates. ``I just gave them all a hug,'' Carmichael said. ``Usually in a game we try to focus on the game and don't show any emotion, but I couldn't help it.'' South Carolina (57-18) was trying to become the first team since Southern California in 1998 to start the CWS with a loss and come back and win it all. The Gamecocks opened with an 11-0 shutout loss to Georgia Tech, then made the title game with wins over Nebraska, Tech and two against Clemson. ``When you lose it takes awhile to appreciate where you are,'' South Carolina coach Ray Tanner said. ``But we battled our way back in a tough way after getting shut out in the opener.'' (Copyright