By Wendell Barnhouse | wendell@big12sports.com
Big 12 Sports.com Correspondent
OMAHA, Neb. - Baseball is a numbers game - 90 feet between the bases, 60 feet, 6 inches, four balls, three strikes, three outs per inning.
In college baseball's postseason, the math can be cruel, the numbers numbing. The double-elimination format doesn't mean a loss is your last but it means any loss can make the next game win or go home.
When the 64 teams are narrowed to two teams, the format becomes agonizingly simple. The team that wins two games is the champion. LSU and Texas each went 3-0 to win their brackets to reach the championship round.
Game One (the loneliest number) in a best-of-three format means the winner is one victory away from dog piling and the loser needs a two-game winning streak under the most pressurized of situations.
And for Texas Monday night, the numbers failed to add up in a 7-6, 11-inning loss to the Tigers. Coach Augie Garrido described the defeat as "devastating." True that.
The Longhorns had a two-run lead in the ninth and had recorded 26 outs. The game requires and required 27. A two-run, two-out double by lead-off hitter D.J. LeMahieu tied the game at 6-6 and erased all of UT's good work.
"The team that lost that game was gonna feel the wrath of baseball and deal with somebody having to be a loser," said Garrido, whose four decades of experience allows him to match the words with the situation. "We became that loser and now we have to refocus and be ready for (Tuesday's) game. That's where the advantage goes to the winning game."
The Tigers' winning run scored in the top of the 11th, also with two outs. When freshman closer Matt Ott got the final out in the bottom of the 11th, LSU's players poured out of the dugout. That emotion was a come-from-behind victory mixed with moving within a victory of the school's sixth national championship.
"That was as clutch a hit as you're ever gonna see," LSU coach Paul Mainieri said of LeMahieu's double that landed about five feet fair down the left-field line. "That was probably the most courageous, never-say-die, resilient effort that I've seen in my 27 years of coaching."
LSU has won 14 consecutive games but the streak was in jeopardy thanks to a teeth-gritting starting effort by UT sophomore Chance Ruffin. He tied a season-high with 10 strikeouts in 6.1 innings. The Long(ball)horns hit five home runs off starter Louis Coleman. As Mainieri told his pitcher during a mound visit - "At least there were all solo homers."
Travis Tucker, Russell Moldenhauer and Kevin Keyes homered in the fourth inning to give Texas a 3-1 lead. After LSU tied it on Jared Mitchell's two-out triple in the sixth inning, Moldenhauer homered in the bottom of the sixth and UT added a run on a wild pitch to make it 5-3. Connor Rowe's leadoff homer in the bottom of the seventh made it 6-4. That was Texas' final hit.
The Longhorns' NCAA tournament wild ride had included more drama than a year on Broadway. But the Tigers flipped the script and scored five of their seven runs with two outs.
"We can't have all the glorious game-ending victories," said Moldenhauer, whose three homers have all come in Omaha. "We have to come back with the same feeling (Tuesday) that we had at the beginning of the game."
Freshman Taylor Jungmann, who came on in relief in the top of the ninth but walked the only batter he faced, will start Tuesday's game. The Longhorns will be the visiting team. They have about 20 hours to flush Monday's loss.
Garrido pointed out that Georgia won last year's CWS opener and had a lead in Game Two before Fresno State rallied to win two games and the championship.
"We've played with the spirit of champion for a long time now," Garrido said. "If you can't clear this game, if you take this game into Tuesday's game, you're gonna be a loser before you start. We put everything on the line tonight. So did LSU."
Extra bases
* The game was the longest by innings and time in the seven-year history of the CWS finals.
* This was the first game Texas lost in 40 games this season when it led heading into the ninth.
* LSU has won nine times this season when it trailed in the seventh inning or later.
* The teams combined for a CWS-record seven bases-empty home runs.
* LSU's Ryan Schimpf opened the scoring with his third homer of the CWS, and 22nd of the season, in the first inning.
How they scored
LSU 1st: Left fielder Ryan Schimpf, the No. 2 hitter in the LSU lineup, lined a home run (his 22nd) to deep right center. LSU 1, Texas 0.
Texas 4th: Second baseman Travis Tucker hits a leadoff homer, his third, to left field. One out later, DH Russell Moldenhauer crushes a home run over the hitting background in center field. With two outs, right fielder Kevin Keyes hits the first pitch he sees to left center field for a homer. Texas 3, LSU 1.
LSU 6th: DH Blake Dean singled to center with one out. With Dean breaking for second, catcher Michah Gibbs hit a 2-hopper to second but Travis Tucker (and shortstop Brandon Loy) broke to cover the bag. The ball went through to right for a single, putting runners at first and third. After Chance Ruffin recorded his 10th strikeout, Texas went for the lefty-lefty matchup, bringing in Austin Wood to face Jared Mitchell. Mitchell lined a triple to left center, scoring both runners. LSU 3, Texas 3.
Texas 6th: With one out, DH Russell Moldenhauer got his third hit and second home run of the game. His high drive found the seats in left field. With two outs, Kevin Keyes singled to center and Brandon Loy doubled to right center. Keyes scored on a wild pitch behind hitter Preston Clark. LSU protested that the ball grazed Clark. Texas 5, LSU 3.
LSU 7th: With two outs, second baseman D.J. LeMahieu hit a 2-2 knee-high fastball over the center field fence. Texas 5, LSU 4.
Texas 7th: Another failure of the "shut down" inning. Connor Rowe counters D.J. LeMahieu's homer in the top of the 7th with his own blast, a home run to left center on a 2-2 pitch. Texas 6, LSU 4.
LSU 9th: Sean Ochinko singled with one out. Taylor Jungmann relieved Austin Wood and walked the next hitter on four pitches. Austin Dicharry replaced Jungmann and struck out pinch hitter Tyler Hanover. D.J. LeMahieu hit a first-pitch double into the left field corner, scoring both runners. LSU 6, Texas 6.
LSU 11th: D.J. LeMahieu led off with a walk. He stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by catcher Cameron Rupp. With two outs, Mikie Mahtook singled to center to drive home the run. LSU 7, Texas 6.