LSU Tigers roar back to CWS throne

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Jun 24, 2009 | by Anonymous

LSU's down cycle is over.

A program that two years ago wasn't good enough to qualify for its conference tournament is the best team in college baseball again.

The Tigers won their sixth national title Wednesday night, breaking open Game 3 of the College World Series finals with a five- run sixth inning that carried them to an 11-4 victory over Texas in Omaha, Neb.

Jared Mitchell hit a three-run homer in the first inning as LSU (56-17) built a 4-0 lead. Texas (50-16-1) pulled even, but Mikie Mahtook's tiebreaking double ignited the Tigers' big sixth.

Mitchell added to the title he earned as a wide receiver on the 2007 LSU team that won the BCS championship. Earlier this month, he was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the first round.

It was the first national title for 51-year-old coach Paul Mainieri, who played his freshman year at LSU in 1976 and returned there after several coaching stops.

LSU won national titles in 1991, '93, '96, '97 and 2000 under Skip Bertman. Though the Tigers made it back to the CWS two times under Smoke Laval, the program fell off before Mainieri arrived three years ago.

Football

Cal: At least three more Cal football games for the 2009 season will be telecast, against Eastern Washington, Minnesota and Washington.

Comcast SportsNet California will air the Sept. 12 Eastern Washington game, with kickoff slated for 2:30 p.m. In addition, CSN California will show the season finale at Washington on Dec. 5 at 3:30 p.m. A road game at Minnesota Sept. 19 will be on either ESPN or ESPN2. Other telecasts: versus Maryland (Sept. 5, 7 p.m., ESPN2), at Oregon (Oct. 26, 12:30 p.m., ABC) and versus USC (Saturday, Oct. 3, 5 p.m. ABC).

BCS: Bowl Championship Series presidents have rejected the Mountain West Conference's proposed eight-team playoff system that would allow greater access to the national championship game to teams outside the six most powerful leagues.

Basketball

Illinois: Michael Jordan's son, Jeff, is leaving Illinois after two seasons. The former walk-on guard surprised nearly everyone by announcing that he plans to focus on his studies, just a few months after Illinois coach Bruce Weber said Jordan had a chance to earn more playing time and even a leadership role.

Duke: Elliot Williams, whose move into the starting lineup provided Duke with a late-season spark, is leaving the Blue Devils after one season because of unspecified family medical reasons, planning to transfer closer to his hometown of Memphis, Tenn., to be near family. He is expected to ask the NCAA to waive its transfer rule that would require him to sit out this season.