CWS Blog: Day 10

Taste the atmosphere of the 2009 College World Series with reporting from in and around Rosenblatt Stadium. We'll provide the most interesting observations and quirky stories behind the CWS, as well as reports from the field.

Got a suggestion for the CWS blog? Email it here: mitch.sherman@owh.com

'ONE FOR THE AGES'
Filed by Mitch Sherman at 10:55 p.m., Monday, June 22, 2009

Some final stuff on tonight's game:

- LSU freshman Mikie Mahtook clearly learned something from his three strikeouts to start his night at the plate.

Mahtook studied Texas pitcher Brandon Workman before batting in the 11th inning. Mahtook said he laid off a breaking ball in the dirt, the same pitch at which he waved repeatedly early in the game. Right after that, Mahtook got a pitch to handle, lining it into center field for the game-winning hit.

On his first three trips to the plate, Mahtook said: "It wasn't just like I struck out. Those were three terrible at bats."

After grounding into a double play in his fourth plate appearance, Mahtook heard from veterans in the dugout who told him he was going to hit again -- this time in a crucial situation.

- LSU coach Paul Mainieri was almost struck speechless by the dramatic comeback. Almost.

"It's kind of hard to describe your emotions about that game," Mainieri said. "That was probably the most courageous, never-say-die, just resilient effort out of one of my teams in 27 years of coaching. It was one for the ages."

- Mainieri said he never felt too badly even as the Longhorns bombed away against pitcher Louis Coleman, who surrendered five solo home runs.

"If you just got the ball up in the air today, it had a chance to go out," the coach said. "Even when we were down, I never felt we were out of the ballgame because of the environment."

- The Tigers did not need to be reminded that Georgia won the opening game of the finals last year before losing the last two to Fresno State.

" I think they understand that we haven't won anything yet," Mainieri said.

Texas coach Augie Garrido is likely to mention last year's finals, too, to his team. Garrido, a Fresno State alum, talked about Fresno's comeback during his postgame press conference.

On tonight, Garrido largely agreed with Mainieri's take.

"It was an incredible game," Garrido said. "It was two teams that were doing unbelievable things. The team that lost that game was going to feel the wrath of baseball."

- Freshman Taylor Jungmann is scheduled to start on the mound for Texas on Tuesday. Jungmann faced two batters in the ninth inning tonight and threw six pitches, all out of the strike zone to Derek Helenihi on and Tyler Hanover.

"I put him in a situation he wasn't comfortable with," Garrido said, "so that's more my fault than his."

LSU is undecided on a starting pitcher for game 2.

"I'm not trying to keep it from anybody," Mainieri said. "I'm not trying to play games. I just haven't given it enough thought yet."

It will be interesting to see if the Tigers consider ace Anthony Ranaudo, who has started twice in Omaha but would be working on three days of rest after throwing 77 pitches in six innings on Friday.

* * *

LSU 7, TEXAS 6
Filed by Mitch Sherman at 10:30 p.m., Monday, June 22, 2009

Not a bad opener.

The longest game in the history of the CWS finals was also one of the best.

LSU tied it with two runs in the ninth and won it in the 11th on Mikie Mahtook's two-out single up the middle off Brandon Workman to score DJ LeMahieu.

Freshman closer Matty Ott then struck out Brandon Loy and Tim Maitland in the bottom half and got Cameron Rowe on a roller to second Tyler Hanover to ignite a celebration that burst out from the Tigers' first-base dugout.

There would be no walk-off win for the Longhorns tonight.

LSU has won 14 straight since a May 20 loss to Vanderbilt in the opener of the SEC tournament.

Texas lost for the first time in 40 games when it led after eight innings.

The Tigers will be the home team Tuesday night as 6 as they play to win their sixth national title and first since 2000.

Attendance tonight was 23,019, and let's just say there was a lot of purple and gold in the stands.

We'll post some postgame comments soon from the coaches and players.

* * *

TIGERS ON TOP
Filed by Mitch Sherman at 10:11 p.m., Monday, June 22, 2009

LSU leads 7-6 on Mikie Mahtook's single to score DJ LeMahieu with two outs in the top of the 11th inning.

LeMahieu led off with a walk and advanced to third base on a stolen base and throwing error by catcher Cameron Rupp.

Brandon Workman continues to pitch for Texas.

Going to the bottom of the 11th with Matty Ott on the mound for the Tigers.

* * *

PURPLE POWER
Filed by Mitch Sherman at 9:54 p.m., Monday, June 22, 2009

Here's an interesting but useless observation: ESPN's broadcast crew tonight, Mike Patrick, Orel Hershiser and Robin Ventura, are all wearing purple.

Wonder if they'll be in burnt orange for Tuesday's game.

* * *

STILL TIED
Filed by Mitch Sherman at 9:51 p.m., Monday, June 22, 2009

LSU threatened in the top of the 10th by placing two runners on base with no outs on an Austin Dicharry walk to Micah Gibbs and a single by Mikie Mahtook.

After a fly ball that advanced Gibbs to third with one out, a wild pitch and an intentional walk, UT reliever Brandon Workman fanned Derek Helinihi and Tyler Hanover to squash the threat.

Texas is coming to bat in search of its third walk-off win in four games at the CWS.

* * *

TIE GAME
Filed by Mitch Sherman at 9:17 p.m., Monday, June 22, 2009

Texas reliever Austin Dicharry started well, striking out Tyler Hanover after the freshman reliever entered with a 2-0 count on the LSU pinch hitter.

But with two outs, sophomore DJ LeMahieu drilled Dicharry's first pitch down the left-field line for a double to score Leon Landry from second base and Derek Helenini from first.

Dicharry then escaped, but it's 6-6 as we head to the bottom of the ninth.

Closer Matty Ott is now pitching for the Tigers.

Before tonight, Texas was 39-0 when leading after eight innings.

* * *

LATE DRAMA
Filed by Mitch Sherman at 9:08 p.m., Monday, June 22, 2009

LSU is threatening in the top of the ninth. Sean Ochinko singled with one out off Austin Wood.

Freshman Taylor Jungmann then walked Derek Helenihi on four pitches.

Up to the plate walked 5-foot-6 pinch hitter Tyler Hanover -- great move by LSU coach Paul Mainieri.

Jungmann threw two straight balls and was relieved by fellow rookie Austin Dicharry.

It's getting very interesting. Stay tuned.

* * *

COLEMAN OUT
Filed by Mitch Sherman at 8:34 p.m., Monday, June 22, 2009

LSU starter Louis Coleman, the SEC pitcher of the year, is out of the game after six-plus innings. He allowed five home runs.

You read that right.

Texas, which had hit 45 home runs in 64 games before tonight, has homered five times.

Yes, the ball is sailing tonight in the hot and moist summer air, but this is ridiculous.

The latest homer from center fielder Connor Rowe, who took Coleman deep into the left-field seats to lead off the bottom of the seventh.

That prompted a call to Chad Jones in the bullpen.

Still, LSU is not out of this game. It's 6-4 Texas, heading to the eighth inning.

* * *

UNLIKELY STAR
Filed by Mitch Sherman at 8:19 p.m., Monday, June 22, 2009

What has gotten into Russell Moldenhauer?

The Texas designated hitter homered again. He's got three this season, all in Omaha -- including two tonight.

Nice timing. Moldenhauer's second blast of the night cleared the left-field wall with one out in the sixth inning. Kevin Keyes later scored on a two-out wild pitch by Louis Coleman to make it 5-3 Texas.

The sixth-inning runs for the Longhorns answered an LSU two-spot in the top half as Jared Mitchell tripled with two outs off UT reliever Austin Wood.

The Tigers had answer for Texas in the seventh as DJ LeMahieu homered to center field off Wood.

Back, for a moment, to Moldenhauer. The junior from Boerne, Texas, also homered in the fourth inning. And just to reiterate, it may have been the longest homer in several years hit at the CWS, clearing the 22-foot batters' eye behind the center-field wall and pegging the Virginia flagpole another 8 feet high.

Moldenhauer entered tonight with just 73 at bats for the season, the fewest of any player in either lineup.

He was picked in the third round of the MLB draft out of high school in 2006 but overlooked entirely this year in his next opportunity.

A few days ago at Rosenblatt, Texas coach Augie Garrido said this: "Championships are decided by the unexpected."

The veteran coach may just know what he's talking about, after all.

* * *

SUNSCREEN NEEDED
Filed by Dirk Chatelain at 7:33 p.m., Monday, June 22, 2009

One of the year's hottest days hasn't deterred interest in those general admission seats.

According to a security worker at Rosenblatt, the line had already started when he arrived at 6:45 a.m. By 9 a.m., he said, there was a pretty good crowd on the hill behind left field.

I suppose a lot of these people come from Louisiana and Texas, where it's been known to get a little warm. Anyway, I bet Dasani had a good business day.

It's cooling off, by the way. The heat index is down to 105.

LSU did not have an immediate answer in the top of the fifth for Texas' three-homer inning. Longhorns are up in the bottom of the fifth, still leading 3-1.

* * *

TEXAS 3-SPOT
Filed by Dirk Chatelain at 7:26 p.m., Monday, June 22, 2009

Texas finally got to Louis Coleman -- three times.

First, Travis Tucker hammered one over the left field wall. Then, two batters later, Russell Moldenhauer's hit the Virginia flag pole above the center field wall. A serious bomb that traveled further than Cameron Rupp's monstrous, game-tying shot Friday in the ninth inning against Arizona State. Then, two batters later, Kevin Keyes drilled one to left.

Longhorns lead 3-1.

It's very surprising to see Texas, a team with only 45 home runs coming into Monday, hit three in one game, let alone one inning. But more surprising is this nugget: Tucker and Moldenhauer entered Monday with higher on-base percentages than slugging percentages. They'd combined for only 21 extra-base hits all season before their homers.

By the way, the last time there were three home runs in one inning at the CWS was June 1, 1998, when LSU did it against Mississippi State.

* * *

SOME LIKE IT HOT
Filed by Mitch Sherman at 6:10 p.m., Monday, June 22, 2009

Texas and LSU ought to feel right at home in Omaha tonight, where it was 93 degrees at first pitch with a heat index of 107.

It was 100 degrees (101 index) at the top of the hour in Austin, Texas, and 93 (99 index) in Baton Rouge, La.

Ryan Schimpf seems to like the heat. The LSU star took UT pitcher Chance Ruffin deep into the right field bleachers with one out in the top of the first inning.

Texas went quietly in the bottom half.

* * *

FLYOVER
Filed by Mitch Sherman at 5:01 p.m., Monday, June 22, 2009

Get to your seats early tonight -- or, at least, get somewhere with a few of the sky a few minutes before 6.

Four F-16 jets from the 56th Fighter Wing out of Luke Air Force Base in Arizona are scheduled for a Rosenblatt flyover. The aircraft are expected to enter the sky over Omaha from the north or northwest.

The F-16 pilots will be introduced on the field during the fifth inning of tonight's opening game of the CWS championship finals between Texas and LSU.

* * *

REMEMBERING WALLY PONTIFF
Filed by Mitch Sherman at 1:58 p.m., Monday, June 22, 2009

The long, long weekend is over. Baseball returns in mere hours at Rosenblatt Stadium.

In case you forgot, it's Texas and LSU in the championship finals of the College World Series, starting tonight at 6.

Let's start the blogging for the finals with a nod to history by remembering the last time the Tigers played for the title in Omaha.

It was 2000, and a promising freshman manned the hot corner of the LSU infield. His name was Wally Pontiff. His brother, Nicholas Pontiff, then 13, made the trip and celebrated as the Tigers beat Stanford, bringing the fifth title in 10 years back to the Bayou. Nicholas Pontiff, a senior reserve outfielder at LSU, is back – the only player or coach in the Tiger dugout today present when the decade-long LSU dynasty ended.

Wally Pontiff started 51 games and hit .347 with seven homers in that freshman year of 2000.

He died in his sleep of heart abnormalities at his parents Metairie, La., home in July 2002, shortly after his junior year.

Pontiff remains a legendary figure in LSU history. And the Tigers feel he is with them in spirit this week.

“I feel him all around me,” Nicholas Pontiff said. “It's very big for me, my family and the LSU program to get back to this point. I know he's up there watching us, looking down on us and helping us out.”

A charitable foundation to help several causes was established in Wally Pontiff's name. An The Wally Pontiff, Jr. Award recognizes academic excellence among LSU players.

“I never knew Wally personally,” said reserve infielder Buzzy Haydell, a close friend and roommate to Nicholas Pontiff, “but I watched him play when I was a kid. The way he played the game was unmatched, as far as his spirit. You can see that passion with Nick every day.

“Wally's legacy will continue to carry on at LSU after Nick leaves, just because of the ties that the Pontiff family has to this program."

* * *

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