FROM NCAA RELEASE
OMAHA, Neb. — Pitching and offensive power carried Texas to a third and decisive game at the NCAA Division I College World Series Championship Finals after beating LSU 5-1, Tuesday.
After an hour and 34 minute rain delay, Longhorn starter Taylor Jungmann pitched a complete game, giving up just one run on five hits and dealing LSU its first loss in the NCAA Tournament. Jungmann struck out nine while walking just two.
Texas’ big inning for scoring was the third, when DH Russell Moldenhauer became the first player with fewer than five home runs on the season before the CWS to hit four homers in the CWS. His solo blast to right center was the second home run for the Longhorns after LF Preston Clark homered in the second inning.
LSU relievers Nolan Cain and Daniel Bradshaw did not allow Texas a run after the third inning, but the damage was already done.
The Longhorns’ scoring started in the first inning after leadoff hitter Michael Torres reached on a walk and was driven in by a single from 1B Brandon Belt. Clark’s home run put Texas up 2-0 in the second before LSU answered with a run driven in on an error by Texas shortstop Brandon Loy.
Moldenhauer’s homer in the third broke the game open for Texas, who went up 5-1 with two more runs. Catcher Cameron Rupp reached with a double and scored on another double by CF Connor Rowe. Rowe was later driven in on a single by Clark.
Defensively, Texas turned two double plays while committing three errors. LSU had two double plays and two errors.
Regardless of the outcome, this year will be the first time a top-eight national seed will claim the national championship since Rice in 2003. Game three will begin at 6 p.m. CDT Wednesday and will be televised on ESPN and ESPN HD.
MCWS CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES GAME 2 NOTES
*-The MCWS series attendance total of 316,090 is the second-highest total in the MCWS, trailing only last year’s total of 330,099.
*-Tonight’s game was delayed 1:34 because of inclement weather. It was the second weather-related delay of the 2009 MCWS.
*-Texas’ Russell Moldenhauer has three homers in the MCWS Championship Finals, matching the total of Fresno State’s Steve Detwiler in 2008.
*-Texas’ seven homers matches the MCWS Championship Finals record originally set by Fresno State in 2008 (three games)
*-The nine combined homers (Texas 7, LSU 2) ties the MCWS Championship Finals record (also 2008 between Fresno State and Georgia)
*-The catchers’ interference call on LSU was the second of this year’s MCWS after not having one in the MCWS since 1981.
*-This is the fourth time the MCWS Championship Finals has gone to a decisive third game (also 2003, 2006 and 2008).
*-The one combined save (by Arkansas) in 14 games is the lowest save total in a MCWS since 1993, when no saves were recorded.
*-Texas’ 50 wins this season would be the Longhorns’ 22nd season with at least 50 wins and the first since 2005, when the Longhorn won 56 games en route to a national title. Texas is the third team in the country to win 50 games, joining LSU (55) and Arizona State (51).
*-Texas improves to 2-0 in elimination games this season, as the Longhorns defeated TCU in the final game of the Super Regional.
*-The Longhorns improved to 82-54 all-time at the MCWS, as Texas leads all programs in MCWS in wins (82) and games played (136)
*-The Longhorns will look to become the first No. 1 overall seed to win a national title since 1999, the first year of the current 64-team format.
*-Taylor Jungmann improved to 3-0 at the MCWS with his complete-game victory tonight. He is now the 10th pitcher to win three games in a single MCWS and the first since North Carolina’s Alex White in 2008 (complete list is on page 99). He is now 3-0 with a 0.59 ERA over 15.1 innings of work, ranking second among all pitchers in strikeouts and first in ERA.r
*-Jungmann’s complete game was the first of his career, as his previous long outing was 7.2 innings against Kansas State on May 23 at the Big 12 Championship. The last complete game in the MCWS before tonight was Robert Woodard (North Carolina) and Stephen Faris (Clemson) on June 19, 2006, a 2-0 North Carolina win.
*-Russell Moldenhauer’s four homers at the MCWS ties the single-series MCWS record, as he becomes the 10th player to hit four homers in one MCWS. He is the first player in MCWS history to hit his first four homers of a season at the MCWS. The lowest total of the other nine players entering the MCWS was five by Southern California’s Bud Hollowell in 1963.
*-Moldenhauer’s third inning homer was his first official at-bat against a left-handed pitcher all season. Prior to tonight, he had walked in his only two plate appearances against southpaws.
*-Moldenhauer is hitting .375 (6-for-16) with four homers and four RBIs in five MCWS contests
*-Preston Clark’s three hits marks his first three-hit game of the MCWS and his first since going 4-for-11 against Boston College on May 30.
*-Texas is now 15-0 this year when holding an opponent to one run or less.
*-Texas has outscored its opponents 106-31 in the first two innings and is 39-4 when scoring first in a game
*-Augie Garrido collected his 38th MCWS win on Tuesday and will look to become the second coach to win six national titles, joining Southern California’s Rod Dedeaux.
*-With tonight’s loss, LSU falls to 34-20 in its 15 MCWS appearances
*-The loss snaps LSU’s 14-game win streak dating back, as the Tigers had not lost since falling to Vanderbilt, 4-1 in the opening round of the SEC Tournament on May 20.
*-LSU also sees its nine-game NCAA win streak snapped, as the Tigers are now 9-1 in the NCAA Tournament. The Tigers were bidding to become the first team to go 10-0 in the NCAA Tournament.
*-The one run LSU scored tied a season low. LSU had been held to one run on three other occasions (vs. Illinois on March 6; vs. Nicholls State on April 15 and vs. Vanderbilt on May 20).
*-LSU’s five hits since recording four hits in a loss to Nicholls State on April 15. LSU was hitting .340 during the NCAA Tournament prior to Tuesday.
*-LSU’s first-inning error snapped a 43.2 inning errorless streak dating back to the fourth inning of LSU’s win over Rice in the Baton Rouge Super Regional on June 6. LSU is fielding .989 in the MCWS, the best of the eight teams in Omaha.
*-Prior to tonight, the Tigers were 5-0 all-time when have an opportunity to win a national title. The Tigers will look to win their sixth national title, and first since 2000 on Wednesday night.
*-Tonight marked the first time in five MCWS games where LSU did not score in the first inning.
*-Leon Landry’s second-inning base hit was his first in the NCAA Tournament. Prior to tonight, Landry was 0-for-7 in four NCAA Tournament games.
