CWS Championship Series: LSU 7 Texas 6 (11 innings)

Mikie Mahtook (Courtesy of LSU Media Relations)

The LSU Tigers defeated the Texas Longhorns 7-6 in 11 innings on Monday night.  The key hit was by freshman Mikie Mahtook who had a single to center in the 11th inning to bring home D.J. LeMahieu from third base with the winning run. The game would start out well for the Tigers as Ryan Schimpf would hit a Chance Ruffin fastball over the right field wall to give the Tigers the early 1-0 lead. LSU starter Louis Coleman would keep the Texas bats off balance through the first three innings by allowing only a single hit.

The Longhorns offense would come around in the fourth inning by getting three homers. Travis Tucker would lead the inning off with a homer over the left field fence to tie up the score. Brandon Belt would follow with a groundout to first base. Russell Moldenhauer grabbed the lead for the Longhorns with a towering home run over the center field fence to give the Longhorns the 2-1 lead. After a Cameron Rupp flyout to center field, Kevin Keyes would hit a homer into the first row of seats to expand the Longhorns lead to 3-1. Coleman would get out of the inning by getting Brandon Loy to fly out to right field.

The game would remain 3-1 until the sixth inning when Blake Dean and Micah Gibbs would pick up back to back one out singles to put runners on the corners. Chance Ruffin would pick up a key strikeout of Mikie Mahtook for the second out of the inning before being lifted in surprising fashion for Texas closer Austin Wood. The reason why this was surprising was the fact that Ruffin had just struck out Mahtook and really had the Tigers off balance. The decision looks like it was related to Ruffin having severe cramps as was seen on the television broadcast. Ruffin stated the following about the decision to take him out “My calf was cramping, but that is not what took me out. I was feeling fine, and I fought through. Taking me out was just the decision that was made.”

Anyways, Wood came in to face Jared Mitchell with two outs and runner on the corners. Mitchell would drive a 0-1 pitch into the left-center field gap where Gibbs was able to score from first base to tie up the game. Mitchell would end up with his fifth triple on the year as he continued to show why he was the 23rd pick to the White Sox in the 2009 MLB Draft. Sean Ochinko would ground out to third base to end the inning to keep the game tied at 3.

The game would not remain tied for long as the Longhorns came right back in the bottom of the sixth inning. With one out Russell Moldenhauer would hit an opposite field solo homer over the left field fence to give the Longhorns the 4-3 lead. The Longhorns would pick up another run as Kevin Keyes singled to center with two outs. He would move over to third base on a Brandon Loy double to right center field. Keyes would score on a wild pitch and give the Longhorns the 5-3 lead. Louis Coleman would get Preston Clark to strikeout swinging keeping the score at 5-3.

The Tigers would cut the Longhorns lead in half in the seventh inning when DJ LeMahieu would take a pitch from Austin Wood over the center field wall. Texas would respond in the bottom of the seventh with a Connor Rowe homer over the left center field fence which would knock out LSU starter Louis Coleman from the game. He finished the game by allowing six runs (all earned) while nine hits in his six innings of work. Five of the runs he allowed came on solo homers by the Texas offense.

The game would remain 6-4 until the top of the ninth inning. Austin Wood would start the inning off by getting left handed hitting Jared Mitchell to ground out to short for the first out of the inning. Sean Ochinko would follow with a single through the left side of the infield to put him on first with one out. Ochinko would be lifted for pinch runner Leon Landry. Texas coach Augie Garrido would decide to lift Wood in favor of freshman RHP Taylor Jungmann. He would throw four pitches to Derek Helenhi out of the zone to put two runners on base with no outs. Jungmann would continue to struggle to find the strike zone as his first two pitches to pinch hitter Tyler Hanover were out of the zone. Texas had seen enough out of Jungmann as they took him out of the game in favor of Austin Dicharry. He would fight back against Hanover to eventually strike him out on a 3-2 pitch for the second out of the inning. DJ LeMahieu would follow with a double deep down the left field line which allowed both runners to score and tie up the game at 6.Texas would get out of the inning without allowing anymore runs.

LSU would bring in closer Matty Ott for the bottom of the ninth. He would allow a Tim Maitland to reach on a 2-2 pitch that would catch his knee getting him on first. The Longhorns did what they would typically do as Connor Rowe would laid down a sacrifice bunt to first base to put the potential winning run on second base. Michael Torres would fly out to left field for the second out while Travis Tucker would fly out to center field for the final out of the inning.

LSU in the tenth would load up the bases off of Austin Dicharry with a two walks and a single to right field with one out. Texas would lift Dicharry in favor of Sophomore RHP Brandon Workman. He would come in to face Derek Helenhi who he would strike out on a devastating breaking ball after tossing multiple pitches over 95 MPH for the second out of the inning. Workman would then follow by striking out Tyler Hanover to get out of the inning unscathed.

In the bottom of the tenth, Texas would get a two out walk to Cameron Rupp but Kyle Lusson would strikeout swinging to end the threat.

The eleventh inning for the Tigers would start with DJ LeMahieu working a full count to get a walk. Ryan Schimpf would follow with a pop up to the shortstop and Blake Dean flyout to left field for the first two outs of the inning. LeMahieu would then steal second base and advance to third on a bad throw by Connor Rowe. Micah Gibbs would get a five pitch walk to put runners on the corners with two outs and Mikie Mahtook came to the plate. Mahtook had some major issues at the plate earlier in the game as he came to the plate 1-5 with three strikeouts. He would come through in this situation with a ringing single to center field and score LeMahieu with the go-ahead run. Mahtook stated the following about his hit “He was throwing hard, and I saw that from the dugout . I made a point to put my foot down early and look for my pitch. He left one up, and I took it up the middle.”  The Tigers would not be able to push across any more runs in the inning as they headed to the bottom of the 11th with the 7-6 lead.

Matty Ott would stay in the game for his third inning of work in the 11th. He would not disappoint as he struck out Brandon Loy swinging for the first out. Tim Maitland would get caught looking for the second out. Connor Rowe would ground out to second base for the final out of the game and give the Tigers the 7-6 victory over Texas.

Matty Ott picked up the win to push his record to 4-2 while Brandon Workman picks up the loss to drop to 3-4 on the year.

2009 MCWS CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES GAME 1 NOTES

*-The seven combined homers (UT 5, LSU 2) broke the MCWS Championship Finals single-game record. The previous mark was four (Fresno State, 3; Georgia 1) set on June 23, 2008.

*-The seven homers were the most in any MCWS game since June 9, 2001, when Southern California (6) and Georgia (1) also combined for seven homers. The seven combined homers ranks fifth on MCWS single-game charts (complete list is on page 88).

*-Prior to tonight, the last team to hit three homers in an inning at the MCWS was LSU against Mississippi State on June 1, 1998.

*-It is the third extra-inning game of the MCWS, the most extra-inning games since 1994 (MCWS record is four set in 1960 and 1972). Six of the eight teams in the MCWS have been in at least one extra-inning game.

*-The 11-inning game is the longest ever MCWS Championship Finals game, topping the 10-inning game between Rice and Stanford on June 21, 2003.

*-Texas is now 7-5 all-time in extra-inning games at the MCWS, matching Arizona State for the most extra-inning games all-time. LSU is 2-1, as tonight’s game was the Tigers’ first extra-inning game at the MCWS since 1987.

*-The team that has won the first game of the MCWS has won four of the six previous titles. The only two times it didn’t happen was in 2006 (Oregon State) and 2008 (Fresno State).

*-Tonight’s time of 4:08 marks the fourth game of at least four hours in the 2009 MCWS.

*-Tonight’s game was the fourth one-run game of the 2009 MCWS, marking the fifth straight year of at least four one-run games at the MCWS.

*-Texas and LSU lead the 2009 MCWS field with 11 homers each, as they have combined for 22 of the 40 homers hit through 13 MCWS games.

*-The Tigers have now won a season-high 14 consecutive games following tonight’s win and have not lost since a 4-1 loss to Vanderbilt in the opening round of the SEC Tournament on May 21.

*-With tonight’s win, LSU can win its sixth national title on Tuesday night against Texas. LSU is 5-0 when playing for a national title in program history.

*-With tonight’s win, LSU improves to 34-19 (.642) in its 15 MCWS appearances, a winning percentage that ranks third in MCWS history.

*-With a 9-0 record, LSU remains perfect in this year’s NCAA Tournament. No team has gone undefeated through the entire NCAA Tournament since the MCWS Championship Series was established in 2003. The last team to go undefeated in the NCAA Tournament was Miami in 2001, as the Hurricanes also went 9-0 in the NCAA Tournament. LSU can become the first team to ever go 10-0 in the NCAA Tournament.

*-LSU has not committed an error in its last four games, the longest stretch without an error this year. No NCAA champion has ever went an entire MCWS without committing an error.

*-LSU is now 25-3 when hitting two or more homers in a game this season.

*-With tonight’s win, LSU leads the nation with 55 wins and will finish the year with the most wins of any program.

*-Ryan Schimpf belted his 38th career homer in the first inning against Texas to rank 10th on LSU’s career homers list. Schimpf, who was 1-for-5 tonight, is hitting .444 (16-for-36) with five homers and 12 RBIs in the NCAA Tournament.

*-DJ LeMahieu is hitting .474 (9-for-19) with eight runs scored in the NCAA Tournament.

*-LSU scored six of seven runs in two-out situations and now has 16 two-out RBIs in the MCWS of its 39 runs. The Tigers are hitting .400 (22-for-55) in two-out situations at the MCWS.

*-LSU has scored in the first inning of all four of its MCWS games and has outscored its opponents 65-31 in the opening inning of games this season. LSU is now (27-3) when scoring in the first inning of a game and (43-6) when scoring first this season.

*-Tonight’s win by the Tigers marked their second win of the season when trailing after eight innings. LSU was just 1-13 when trailing after eight innings before tonight’s comeback.

*-Prior to tonight, LSU had trailed for only a half inning at the MCWS (LSU led Virginia 3-2 after fourth inning; Virginia scored two in top of the fifth before LSU scored three in the bottom half of the inning).

*-LSU has now hit 105 home runs on the season, the most by an LSU team since hitting 157 in 1998.

*-This is LSU’s longest game of the season (previous high was a 10-innings game against Baylor on May 30. It is LSU’s longest game since a 15-inning victory over New Orleans on May 13, 2008.

*-With six strikeouts tonight, Louis Coleman now has 299 career strikeouts, a total which ranks 10th on LSU’s career list. Coleman’s 127 innings is the most by a Tiger pitcher since 2002 (Lane Mestepey, 142.1 IP)

*-The two-run deficit after Texas’ three homers marked LSU’s biggest deficit since the opening game of the Baton Rouge Super Regional on June 5.

*-The five homers allowed by LSU’s Louis Coleman ties his season high. He also allowed three against Mississippi State on May 15. Coleman, who allowed six runs over six innings, was 3-0 with a 1.99 ERA in his first four NCAA Tournament appearances. Coleman has now fanned 27 and walked three over 28.2 innings of work in this year’s NCAA Tournament.

*-The five homers by LSU pitching ties a season high, as the Tigers allowed five homers to Alabama on April 12.

Texas

*-Tonight’s loss was Texas’ first this season when leading after eight innings. The Longhorns were 39-0 when taking a lead into the ninth inning.

*-The loss snapped Texas’ eight-game win streak at the MCWS, which was the longest streak since Miami won eight consecutive games between 1999 and 2001. Texas will face its first elimination game at the MCWS on Tuesday, but the Longhorns are 1-0 in elimination games, defeating TCU in the third game of the Super Regional.

*-The Longhorns fell to 81-54 all-time at the MCWS, as Texas leads all programs in MCWS in wins (81) and games played (135)

*-Texas’ five homers breaks the single-game MCWS Championship Finals record of three, set by Fresno State against Georgia on June 23, 2008.

*-Texas’ five homers ties for fifth all-time in a MCWS game and is the most by any team in the MCWS since Southern California hit six against Georgia on June 9, 2001.

*-Texas’ five homers was a season high, topping the previous best of three set three times (at Oklahoma State, 4/3; at Baylor, 5/2; vs. Arizona State, 6/19). It is its highest single-game homer total since belting five against Alabama A&M on May 14, 2008. Texas’ single-game record for homers is six. The Longhorns have hit 17 homers in 10 NCAA Tournament games after hitting 33 during the regular season.

*-The five solo homers by Texas is one shy of the MCWS record for solo homers in a game. LSU hit six solo homers against Southern California on 5/30/98.

*-Texas extended its national lead for sacrifices to 103 with its ninth-inning sacrifice against LSU. The Longhorns have had 27 sacrifices in 10 NCAA games.

*-The two homers by Russell Moldenhauer marked his first career two-homer game and the fourth by a Texas player in 2009 (Cameron Rupp vs. Arizona State, June 16; Michael Torres vs. TCU on June 6; Connor Rowe at Oklahoma State on April 3). It is 57th time in MCWS history that a player has hit two homers in a single MCWS game.

*-Russell Moldenhauer is the second player to hit two homers in a MCWS Championship Finals. He joins Fresno State’s Steve Detwiler, who hit two against Georgia on June 25, 2008.

*-Prior to Russell Moldenhauer, the last MCWS player to hit his first two homers of the MCWS was Stanford’s Jonny Ash in 2003.

*-Before tonight, the last time Texas hit three homers in an inning was against Quinnipiac on June 3, 2005 (3rd inning).

*-Chance Ruffin’s 10 strikeouts matches his season high set against Oklahoma on April 18th. It is fourth time that Ruffin has struck out at least 10 hitters in a game this season.

*-Texas has accounted for nearly half of its offense via the home run, as 13 of the Longhorns’ 27 runs in Omaha have been off homers. Before the sixth-inning wild pitch that scored Kevin Keyes, Texas’ last six runs had come on solo homers, dating back to the ninth inning of the win over Arizona State on June 19.

*-Texas is (11-0) when hitting two homers in a game this season.

*-Austin Wood made his 40th appearance of the season, a total which ties Arizona’s Jason Stoffel for the national lead. He extends his own record with 117 career appearances and is the sixth Texas pitcher to appear in at least 40 games in a season

*-Texas falls to 3-2-1 in extra-inning games this season

*-Texas was just 1-13 with running on base against LSU and is hitting .190 (12-for-63) with runners on base in its four games at the MCWS.