Freshman battles like a veteran

The Tigers, including Mikie Mahtook (left) can win a national title by defeating Texas Tuesday. AP Related Links LSU rallies for series-opening win 2009 CWS results, schedules Notes: LSU pair seeks national title combo

OMAHA, Neb. -- At the time, Mikie Mahtook probably wished he had the Golden Sombrero.

In Monday night's College World Series championship opener, Game 1 of a best-of-three set between LSU and Texas, the Tigers' freshman center fielder struck out his first three at-bats against Longhorns starter Chance Ruffin ("three terrible at bats," Mahtook said), and when he had the chance to redeem himself in his fourth plate appearance -- with a runner on first, one out and LSU trailing 6-4 -- Mahtook succeeded in putting the ball in play, but his ground ball to second became an inning- and rally-ending double play in the eighth. A strikeout would have hurt the team less, extending the inning for the team's rightfielder, junior Jared Mitchell, a recent first-round pick by the Chicago White Sox.

But making contact proved reassuring. So did Mitchell, who approached his rookie teammate in the dugout, told him to shake it off and said, "You're going to come back up again in a big spot."

After Mahtook had a Jeterian single in the 10th (a weak ground ball poked just between the first and second basemen), that big spot arose in the 11th. With two outs and the bases loaded, Texas' fourth reliever of the night, Brandon Workman, deviated from his 95-mile-per-hour fastball on a 1-2 count, left the curve ball up and Mahtook roped it into center field for what proved to be the winning run, as LSU took a classic Game 1 by a 7-6 (RECAP) score.

To come out here and play a team like this, on this stage, just shows what our ball club is about," Mitchell said.

Texas, meanwhile, had been the dramatic walk-off winner three times already in the NCAA tournament, including a 25-inning regional win over Boston College and a two-home run comeback in the ninth against Arizona State on Friday. This time, the Longhorns were on the opposite side, shut down by a Tigers bullpen that held UT scoreless over the last five innings.

UT coach Augie Garrido said after the game his team will need "to recognize the opportunity of tomorrow after a devastating loss. That's a hard thing to do. The problem was the loss. The performance was pretty damn good."

It's the clash of titans college baseball wanted. While Fresno State's unlikely championship was a great feel-good story last year, this year finals pits the tournament's No. 1 seed, Texas, a six-time champion, against the polls' No. 1 seed, LSU, a five-time champion. Few could argue that these aren't the sport's best two clubs.

For a night, Rosenblatt Stadium played like the Midwestern edition of the new Yankee Stadium. Game time temperature at 93 degrees, but with the 59 percent humidity, the on-field heat index was 107 -- LSU designated hitter Blake Dean said it was hotter than any game in Baton Rouge -- and a casual breeze to left-center field all combined to make the park feel very small.

Much of the pre-game hype and analysis pitted LSU's power against Texas' small ball approach (the Longhorns entered the game with 102 sacrifices to 45 homers), and after Ryan Schimpf hit a first-inning homer for LSU, all the talk seemed prescient. But it was Texas which hit five homers -- all solo shots -- which is fully one-tenth of its season output, and it was LSU which tried the third-inning sacrifice, scored five of its runs on base hits that stayed in the yard and scored the winner thanks to DJ LeMahieu's 11th-inning stolen base.