Background Info: I fly EWR to PIT every week, the monday flights are as follows (approx)

6:00 am
8:30 am
10:15 am
1 pm
4pm
8pm

So Sunday evening i get a SMS saying my 8am flight was canceled (weather). So call up for rebooking options. The 10:15 was all canceled so my only real option was the 6am. I call up my car service and change my pickup to 4:45 am (i live 20 minutes from EWR).

Long story short the next morning the car service doesn't come and i scramble to get a cab. Finally get one, make it to EWR and miss the flight by 5 minutes. (it departed 3 minutes early from the gate.)

So i head out and go to ticketing agent who puts me on standby for the 1pm flight (#1 of the standby list). I head over to terminal A (From C) and go use up a day pass to the Presidents Club.

After making it to Pittsburgh i check the rest of my itinerary. I was scheduled to head home Thursday night (can you tell i am a consultant?) at 5:45pm, but now shows me on the 8pm :-(

I call up our travel department who is equally perplexed. They put me on hold and call CO. CO tells them since i was a no show my ticket needed to be rebooked and the 5:45pm was sold out which is why I was moved to the 8pm.

Now my question. Is this correct? Was the flight over sold, which is why i was able to loose my seat in the 20 minutes it took me to get from the gate to ticketing?

Any way to get back on the 5:45pm besides standby?

Thanks