 "Photo: Paul Chouy/The Daily Texan")
The Louisiana State baseball team definitely knows how to get the party started.
Blake Dean brought the chips. Sean Ochinko brought the ice.
And Jared Mitchell delivered the punch.
Mitchell set the tone early in Game 3, blasting a three-run home run to right field, to give the Tigers an early 3-0 advantage in the first inning in Game 3 of the College World Series.
Not only did Mitchell get the team off to a hot start, but he also gave it the go-ahead run. It was the start of what became the first of a five-run sixth inning, in which the Longhorns could not stop the constant parade of Tiger base-runners.
“LSU answered right back, and it was devastating,” said Texas second baseman Tucker. “We had momentum going our way, and they shifted it back their way.”
The win gave the Tigers their sixth national baseball title.
Mitchell played a pivotal role in the Tiger lineup, hitting .348 with seven RBIs and two home runs and earning him the title of the College World Series’ Most Outstanding Player.
LSU was quick to strike in the first inning of Game 1, off a Ryan Schimpf home run, which led to a victory.
Freshman Mikie Mahtook came up big for the Tigers in both victories. He brought in the eventual game-winning run in the 11th inning of Game 1.
Mahtook also hit a double in the fifth inning of Game 3 to bring in Mitchell, with the go-ahead run, and opened the floodgates for the LSU lineup in the fifth.
Clutch hitting was also complimented by the efforts of the Tigers’ relief pitching. The bullpen only gave up three earned runs.
Crouched behind the plate catching those pitchers was Tigers’ catcher Micah Gibbs. Gibbs is an Austinite who had dreams of wearing burnt orange, playing for the university he grew up supporting. But, he was rejected by Texas and made the decision to play in Baton Rouge.
Gibbs isn’t in Austin because Texas had already offered a scholarship to a catcher in the same class, so there wasn’t room for him on the Longhorns’ roster.
Gibbs made a huge contribution in the finals, scoring 3 runs and connecting on 4 hits.
The decision worked out in the end, earning him a championship ring.
Another man who knows a thing or two about championships is LSU head football coach Les Miles. Miles was in attendance for the whole final series, supporting his former football players Jared Mitchell and Chad Jones on the diamond.
Mitchell and Jones now have added a baseball national title to their resume, along with a 2007 national championship from the football team. The rich keep getting richer.
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