Associated Press
OMAHA, Neb. ó Mikie Mahtook singled in the winning run in the top of the 11th inning after DJ LeMahieu tied the game in the ninth, and LSU survived Texas’ five home runs to beat the Longhorns 7-6 in Game 1 of the College World Series finals Monday night.
LSU (55-16) would win its sixth national title with a victory over the Longhorns (49-15-1) tonight.
LeMahieu walked leading off the 11th against Brandon Workman (3-4), stole second with two outs and took third when catcher Cameron Rupp’s throw went into center field. After Micah Gibbs walked, Mahtook singled to center for the go-ahead run.
Matty Ott (4-2) struck out Brandon Loyn and Tim Maitland and got Connor Rowe to ground out to finish off Texas, which had walkoff wins in two of its first three CWS games.
The Tigers, who won their 14th straight, came back from deficits of 3-1 and 6-4. LeMahieu hit the tying, two-out double in the top of the ninth off Austin Dicharry. LeMahieu also homered in the seventh.
Texas, trying to become the first No. 1 national seed since Miami in 1999 to win the championship, continued its show of power. Russell Moldenhauer hit two of the Longhorns’ five homers.
The Longhorns came to Omaha with 39 homers in 61 games.