LSU Dominates Texas for Sixth National Crown

LSU tops Texas 11-4 in Game 3 of the for the 2009 College World Series Championship Series

In a way, it was appropriate. LSU held a dominating seven run lead in the 9th inning and manager Paul Manieri could have sent any of his pitchers to the mound to close out the game. Who did he choose? Senior Louis Coleman, the Tigers’ best pitcher all season long, was trotted out the mound and finished his LSU career by striking out the side and celebrated by throwing his glove 30 feet in the air like a new college graduate would throw a mortarboard hat. Which of course, considering LSU’s seniors missed their own graduation because of the College World Series, was more than appropriate.

Credit for LSU’s championship goes to many people, first and foremost being Manieri, a former Tiger in his playing days. LSU, who only two years ago was among the dregs of the SEC, was reborn under his leadership. Since a terrible 2007, Manieri brought in plenty of young talent, including sophomore winning pitcher Anthony Renaudo, and convinced an underachieving but talented core that they were capable of great things. How great? Well, LSU won their 6th NCAA title in the past 18 years, best in the country, and finished the season with 15 wins in their final 16 games. Their season total of 56 wins was tops in the country as well. Since midseason last year, Manieri’s Tigers are 79-18! That’s incredible.

The game began with a bang for LSU. A shuffled LSU lineup moved recent White Sox 1st round pick Jared Mitchell into the 5 th spot and his first at bat produced a 3 run home run to give the Tigers an early lead. Mitchell’s heroics throughout the last two weeks would eventually lead to his being named the Most Outstanding Player at the College World Series.

However, the Longhorns didn’t go quietly and the game was tied at 4 in the 6th inning after a two run bomb off of Renaudo by Texas’ Kevin Keyes. However, Mike Mahtook sparked a decisive 5 run 6th inning with an RBI double and LSU never looked back. Chad Jones and Coleman combined for 3 2/3 innings of one hit relief to close out the Longhorns, whose bats went silent after Renaudo was lifted.

The Longhorns deserve credit for their valiant effort, despite coming up short. This is the same team that endured a 25 inning barnburner against Boston College during the Regional stages and then fought off a very tough TCU team in the Super Regionals. Then, they emerged from the tougher bracket in Omaha to face LSU for the right to be called champions. Despite losing emphatically tonight, Texas took LSU to the limit in game 1 (an 11 inning affair) and dominated game 2 to even get to this point. Coach Augie Garrido can look his players in the eye and tell them that he’s very proud of how hard they fought to get there.

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But 2009 will be remembered for the LSU Tigers. The Tigers won their first National Title since 2000 but their record in the past 18 years must be considered among the absolute best in the NCAA considering their 6 National Championships place them 2nd all time and first during that time span. Mitchell and Jones also became the first players to win both a football and baseball national championship as both were part of the Tigers’ 2007 BCS Champion squad. The 20,000 fans packed into Rosenblatt Stadium last night were dominated by partisan Tiger fans, who turned the game into a festival in the final innings as it became clear that LSU would not relinquish the lead. And as the game wound down, their departing ace stood upon the mound to put an exclamation mark on a game that would permanently etch his team’s name in history.

Very appropriate indeed.

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By Matt Baxendell
CollegeSports-fans.com Staff Writer

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