SEC Talk

The LSU Tigers won their sixth NCAA baseball title tonight in Omaha, and left no doubt who the number one team in the nation is.

LSU defeated Texas, 11-4, taking the best of three series 2-1 in earning a sixth College World Series title.

The Tigers took off fast, taking a 3-0 lead in the top of the first on a Jared Mitchell homer. After adding a fourth run in the second inning, the Longhorns whittled away at the Tigers lead with two runs in the third and two in the fifth, knotting the game at 4-4.

But LSU broke the game open in the sixth, with five runs to take a 9-4 lead. The big hit in that inning was Mikie Mahtook’s tie-breaking double. The Tigers added one run in both the eighth and ninth innings to take the title.

Mitchell was named the CWS Most Outstanding Player. In winning the CWS, Mitchell added to his national championship hardware. Mitchell was a wide received on the LSU football team that won the BCS championship in 2007.

While the Tigers were top-ranked in virtually ever poll, they were not afforded a top seed in the tournament, instead playing at the #3 seed. But they will end the season right where they wanted to be… atop the polls and holding the trophy.

This story is even more amazing when you consider that the Tigers didn’t even qualify for the SEC tournament two years ago. Head Coach Paul Mainieri has done a fantastic job with the program in a short period of time.

The 2009 title will be added to the Tigers five others (1991, 1993, 1996, 1997 and 2000), all under former head coach Skip Bertman.

LSU took game one of the College World Series Championship, 7-6, in a classic batte in Omaha.

With two on and two out in the top of the 11th, freshman Mikie Mahtook hit a short fly to center, scoring D. J. D.J. Lemahieu from third and giving LSU a 7-6 lead.

Earlier, Mahtook had to get an IV in the locker room after he cramped up during the game. Obviously, he responded well to treatment!

In the bottom of the inning, LSU pitcher Matty Ott (nicknamed Matty Ice) worked his third inning of relief.   Shortstop Brandon Loy was up first, and Ott got him to chase an outside (way outside) slider, strking him out. Left fielder Tim Maitland was up next, and Ott went right after him.

Ott was on fire, striking Maitland out with a wicked comeback sinker that rode in on the hitter.

The last hope for the Horns was centerfielder Conner Rowe.  After running the count full, Rowe hit a grounder to second for the third and final out.

LSU kept fighting all night in what has got to be one of the classic College World Series games of all time.

Ott got his fourth win in a save appearance, going with his 16 saves this season, an LSU record.

If LSU beats Texas Tuesday night, it will win its sixth College World Series title in school history. LSU will have two tries to win the title in the best of three series.

Gametime Tuesday night is 6 p.m. CT on ESPN.

Arkansas (41-23) and LSU (53-16) will face each other for the second time in the College World Series Friday at 2 p.m. ET. The game will be televised on ESPN2.

LSU won the first matchup on Monday by a score of 9-1. During the regular season, the Tigers took two out of three games from the Hogs.

If LSU wins, it will advance to the Championship Series, getting underway Monday at 6 p.m. ET. If Arkansas wins, the two teams will battle again on Saturday at either 1 p.m. or 6 p.m., with the winner advancing to the Championship Series.

LSU has been on fire, winning 12 straight games. Top-ranked in three out of four polls, and the 3rd seed nationally, the Tigers are coming off three days of rest. Arkansas has had to battle through the losers’ bracket, defeating Virginia 4-3 in 12 innings on Wednesday to earn the right to face LSU.

In the other bracket, Arizona St. (51-13) will face Texas (48-14-1), an elimination game for the Sun Devils. That game is at 7 p.m. ET. ASU advanced to the game by defeating North Carolina 12-5 on Thursday.

LSU whipped up on fellow SEC Western Division team Arkansas in the College World Series, taking the game 9-1.

Mikie Mahtook, Austin Nola and Blake Dean all homered for the Tigers, who have won 12 straight in the tournament. LSU started ace-pitcher Louis Coleman, who gave up only one run and six hits while striking out seven in six innings of work. On May 2, Coleman pitched a two hit shutout against the Hogs in regular season action.

Arkansas’ lone run came in the first inning. Tigers hitters drove Hogs pitcher Brett Eibner out of the game in the second inning.  LSU led 4-1 after two innings, but the real damage came in the sixth, when LSU scored five runs to take an eight run lead, 9-1.

Arkansas will now have to play out of the loser’s bracket, where the Razorbacks will face Virginia on Wednesday at 6 p.m. CDT. While the loser of the game will be eliminated, the winner will advance to face LSU on Friday at 1 p.m. CDT.  Should LSU win that game, it will advance to the best of three series next week.

One other thought: The Tigers are the 3rd seed nationally behind Texas (#1) and Cal State Fullerton (#2), yet are ranked #1 in three of the four college baseball polls (Baseball American, Collegiate Baseball, NCBWA) and second in the other poll (USA Today/ESPN). Texas is ranked 4th, 5th, 5th and 4th respectively, while CS-Fullerton is 3rd, 3rd, 3rd and 5th.

Interesting, but at least the Tigers are getting a chance to prove it on the field.

IN OTHER SEC NEWS:

The Amateur Softball Association of America (ASA) has announced it’s three national teams for the 2009 season, and eight current and former SEC players have made the rosters.

Making the USA Softball Women’s National Team from the SEC are: Monica Abbott (Tennessee), *Chelsea Bramlett (Mississippi St.), Ashley Holcombe (Alabama), Stacey Nelson (Florida) and Brittany Rogers (Alabama).

The Japan Cup roster features Courtney Bures (Mississippi St.), *Molly Johnson (Kentucky), Stacey Nelson (Florida), Brittany Rogers (Alabama) and *Taylor Schlopy (Georgia).

SEC athletes on the Pan Am Qualifying team are Monica Abbott (Tennessee), *Chelsea Bramlett (Mississippi St.) and Ashley Holcombe (Alabama).

* indicates a current SEC player.

Both Arkansas and LSU advanced into the Winner’s Bracket at the College World Series, Arkansas with a 10-6 upset of Cal State Fullerton, and LSU with a 9-5 win over Virginia.

But only one SEC team will remain in the Winner’s Bracket after tonight’s games.

Top-ranked LSU and #7 Arkansas will face off against each other at 6 pm CDT, meaning one team will advance in the Winner’s Bracket and the other will be forced to try to work it’s way out of the Loser’s side.

The two teams met in a three game series earlier this year, with the Tigers taking the series 2-1. The Razorbacks won game one by a score of 11-4, but LSU battled back to take games two and three by scores of 5-0 and 4-3.

LSU will start senior right hander Louis Coleman in tonight’s game. Coleman has a record of 13-2, with an ERA of 2.74 in 115 innings pitched. He gave up 19 walks while striking out a whopping 125 batters.

Arkansas will counter with sophomore righty Brett Eibner, 5-4 with a 4.61 ERA in 70.1 innings pitched. Eibner gave up 33 walks while striking out 66.

Tonight’s game, like all College World Series games, will be televised on ESPN.

IN OTHER SEC NEWS:

The NCAA’s Track & Field Championships, held in Fayetteville, Arkansas, ended this weekend. Here are the final results for SEC Schools:

WOMEN’S RESULTS:
LSU - 6th
Florida - 9th
Tennessee - 10th
Auburn - 25th
Arkansas - 29th
South Carolina - 40th
Mississippi - 70th (tie)
Mississippi St. - 70th (tie)

MEN’S RESULTS:
Florida - 2nd
LSU - 5th
South Carolina - 6th
Arkansas - 9th
LSU - 11th
Auburn - 12th
Kentucky - 15th
Mississippi St. - 17th
Tennessee - 58th
Alabama - 62nd

The NCAA College World Series is officially underway, and in the first game we got a huge upset.

Unseeded Arkansas topped #2 national seed Cal State Fullerton by a final score of 10-6. Entering the ninth inning, UA held a 10-5 lead, the biggest deficit for CS-Fullerton this season. The Titans managed one run in the ninth, but were unable to catch up to the Hogs and will now have to attempt to work their way out of the loser’s bracket.

The Hogs opened the game with two runs in the first off Titans pitcher Noe Ramirez. In the top of the third, UA’s Zach Cox hit a 2-run homer to add to the score, but the Titans answered back with two runs in the bottom of the inning, ending the third at 4-2 Hogs.

But most of the damage was done in the fifth inning, when Arkansas extended it’s lead to 9-2, led by Andy Wilkins’ 3-run homer. Arkansas finished it’s scoring off in the top of the eighth on a Wilkins single.

There was a bit of controversy in the bottom of the eighth when CSF’s Gary Brown was obviously hit by a pitch on the elbow pad, but as he started to take his base the home plate umpire called him back and called ball three.

LSU takes the field at 7 p.m. to take on Virginia. Catch the game on ESPN.

CWS NOTES:

This marks the 17th consecutive year that the SEC has been represented in the CWS, but the conference hasn’t won a title since LSU’s in 2000.

By Saturday afternoon two SEC teams were in the process of booking flights to Omaha. Both LSU and Arkansas have advanced to the College World Series by sweeping their respective opponents.

Arkansas took the Super Regional against Florida State — on FSU’s home turf — in dramatic fashion. The Hogs led 7-5 entering the game’s final inning, but FSU took the lead in the top of the 9th with three runs. When Arkansas came to bat in the bottom half of the inning, they trailed by one.  After a fly out, Bo Bigham drew a walk and Zach Cox followed with a single to put runners at first and second with one out. Senior Andrew Darr, who cracked the starting lineup for the first time in almost a month, hit the first pitch to the gap in left-center, scoring two and ending the game.

The trip to Omaha will be the sixth for Arkansas, and the first since 2004.

LSU will join the Razorbacks in Omaha thanks to a 5-3 win over Rice. LSU, like Arkansas, swept the series 2-0. An LSU stadium record crowd of 9,651 was there, cheering the Tigers on to their 15th CWS. LSU has now won 10 straight, and is 117-44 all time in NCAA tournament games. That’s a winning percentage of .727, the highest in NCAA tournament history.

The game was back and forth until the fifth inning, when LSU scored two and took a 4-2 advantage that it never relinquished.

Two other teams are still playing in hopes of joining the SEC brethren in the CWS. Florida opened play today with a 9-7 loss to Southern Miss. The game puts the Gators in a 1-0 hole, with games Sunday and Monday (if needed).

Late errors cost Ole Miss against Virginia on Saturday, with the Rebs losing 4-3 to even the series with the Cavs at 1-1. A record crowd of 10,323 saw the action in Oxford, which Ole Miss led much of the way. But two errors in the 8th inning gave UVa the lead for good, forcing Sunday’s final game.

Games on Sunday (all times eastern):

Ole Miss vs. Virginia - 2 p.m. (ESPN). Series tied at 1-1.  Winner advances to College World Series.

Florida vs. Southern Miss - 7 p.m. (ESPN2). Southern Miss leads 1-0.

The NCAA baseball tournament field was announced Monday, and eight teams from the SEC heard their names called.

Florida, LSU and Ole Miss all received top regional seeds, and will host. Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia and South Carolina earned #2 seeds, while Vanderbilt notched a #3 seed.

LSU earned the #3 seed overall nationally, while Florida is the 8th seed.

The NCAA baseball tournament field is made up of 64 teams. The top seeds are: #1 Texas (41-13-1), #2 Cal State Fullerton (42-14), #3 LSU (46-16), #4 North Carolina (42-16), #5 Arizona St. (44-12), #6 UC Irvine (43-13), #7 Oklahoma (41-18) and #8 Florida (39-20).

Listed below is the list of SEC teams in the tournament, the location of the regional and other teams in that regional:

Alabama (#2 Seed at Clemson Regional)
[#1 Clemson, #3 Oklahoma State, #4 Tennessee Tech]

Arkansas (#2 Seed at Oklahoma Regional)
[#1 Oklahoma, #3 Washington State, #4 Wichita State]

Florida (#1 Seed [No. 8 National Seed] in Gainesville Regional)
[#2 Miami (Fla.), #3 Jacksonville, #4 Bethune-Cookman]

Georgia (#2 Seed at Florida State Regional)
[#1Florida State, #3 Ohio State, #4 Marist]

LSU (#1 Seed [No. 3 National Seed] in Baton Rouge Regional)
[#2 Minnesota, #3 Baylor, #4 Southern University]

Ole Miss (#1 Seed in Oxford Regional)
[#2 Missouri, #3 Western Kentucky, #4 Monmouth]

South Carolina (#2 Seed at East Carolina Regional)
[#1 East Carolina, #3 George Mason, #4 Binghamton]

Vanderbilt (#3 Seed at Louisville Regional)
[#1 Louisville, #2 Middle Tennessee State, #4 Indiana]

Schedule for NCAA Regionals • 5/29-6/1

Friday, May 29
Game 1* No. 2 Seed vs. No. 3 Seed
Game 2* No. 1 Seed vs. No. 4 Seed

Saturday, May 30
Game 3 Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2
Game 4 Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2

Sunday, May 31
Game 5 Winner game 3 vs. Loser Game 4
Game 6 Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5

Monday, June 1
Game 7 Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 6 (If necessary)