OMAHA, Neb. — In one month, Oregon State has gone from uncertainty about making the NCAA tournament to taking the final step toward playing for a second straight national championship.

The Beavers are back in the College World Series' championship round after a 7-1 victory over UC Irvine last night that ended the Anteaters' dramatic postseason run.

Oregon State (47-18), looking to become the first repeat champion since LSU in 1997, plays the winner of today's Rice-North Carolina game in the best-of-three finals starting Saturday.

"I don't know what the odds were three weeks ago," Oregon State coach Pat Casey said. "I'm just happy for the guys. It's kind of deja vu the way it turned out here."

Daniel Turpen (10-1) allowed five hits over eight innings and Mitch Canham homered and drove in three runs in the Beavers' 11th win in 13 games since a May swoon when they lost seven of nine. They tied for sixth place in the Pacific-10 and relied on their 28-3 non-conference record to make the tournament as an at-large pick.

It was a disappointing finish for the Anteaters (47-17-1), who reinstated their baseball program in 2002 and were making their first CWS appearance.

"Well, a magical run has come to an end, unfortunately," UC Irvine coach Dave Serrano said. "I'm hoping it's next year, but it might take some time before we're able to assemble a group of young men who are committed to each other and a program and a coaching staff as much as these guys were."

NORTH CAROLINA 6, RICE 1

Robert Woodard got it right this time.

Coming off the shortest start of his career five days ago, Woodard (11-2) allowed five hits and one earned run in 6 2/3 innings as North Carolina stayed alive by beating Rice.

"There are a lot of good players who probably don't have the heart and pride in his performance that Robert Woodard has," Tar Heels coach Mike Fox said. "So today didn't surprise me or any of his teammates with how he came back and pitched after a rough outing the first time out."

Rice had 29 runs and 33 hits in its first two CWS games, one of which was a 14-4 victory over the Tar Heels on Sunday.

Woodard and two relievers limited the Owls to one run on six singles and a double yesterday, and Dustin Ackley broke open the game with a three-run homer to help the Tar Heels force another meeting with Rice today.

The winner meets defending national champion Oregon State in the best-of-three championship starting Saturday.

Rice (56-13), at No. 2, and 2006 national runner-up North Carolina (56-14), at No. 3, are the only remaining national seeds in the CWS.

"They're the No. 3 team in the nation, so beating us twice in a row wouldn't be an upset," Rice's Joe Savery said. "At this point, you can't look at it as underdogs or that sort of thing. We just have to go win. As much as we want to talk about experience that benefits us, they have at least equal experience, and they made it a step farther last year."

Woodard lasted just 1 2/3 innings in Friday's 8-5 win over Mississippi State, his shortest outing in 51 career starts.

SHORT HOPS

The North Carolina-Rice game saw five more hit batters and the UC Irvine-Oregon State had three as the CWS-record total rose to 45. ... Dustin Ackley's national-best 114 hits is a record for the Tar Heels. ... Rice's loss was its first this postseason.