{"id":1299,"date":"2009-06-23T17:18:05","date_gmt":"2009-06-24T00:18:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2009\/06\/23\/a-look-back-at-lsu-vs-texas-game-1\/"},"modified":"2009-06-23T18:22:33","modified_gmt":"2009-06-24T01:22:33","slug":"a-look-back-at-lsu-vs-texas-game-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/2009\/06\/23\/a-look-back-at-lsu-vs-texas-game-1\/","title":{"rendered":"A Look Back at LSU vs. Texas, Game 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

In case you missed it, LSU and Texas played an 11-inning gem on Monday night that featured power, pitching, clutch performances, and Orel Hershiser.<\/em>\u00c2\u00a0 Here are the highlights that \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sportscenter\u00e2\u20ac\u009d may not have shown.<\/p>\n

Introduction<\/strong>
\nMike Patrick helms a three-man booth, rounded out by Orel Hershiser and College Baseball Hall-of-Famer Robin Ventura.\u00c2\u00a0 Either in their shirt, tie, or both, all three men wear purple.\u00c2\u00a0 I miss the days of the mustard-yellow \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Monday Night Football\u00e2\u20ac\u009d blazers.<\/p>\n

<\/a>The boys throw it down to Erin Andrews.\u00c2\u00a0 She\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s talking about how Texas has been a part of close wins throughout the tournament.\u00c2\u00a0 90% of ESPN\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s viewership is thinking, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Attractive blonde female talking about baseball.\u00c2\u00a0 ATTRACTIVE BLONDE FEMALE TALKING ABOUT BASEBALL.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Side note: Can someone please explain these commercials where Visigoths play a game of college baseball?\u00c2\u00a0 Granted, the sight of fat, bearded men chomping away on whole sunflowers, while their opponents spit out sunflower seed shells is humorous.\u00c2\u00a0 I just don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t know what I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m supposed to buy now that I find it funny.<\/p>\n

Top of the 2nd: LSU 1, Tex 0<\/strong>
\nErin Andrews comes out of the break by saying that the heat index has reached 100 degrees and that Texas starter Chance Ruffing is having a hard time gripping the ball.\u00c2\u00a0 This leads Hershiser to add that in those situations, he would use \u00e2\u20ac\u0153sugar gum,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d because it would make his saliva sticky.\u00c2\u00a0 This leads to the following exchange.<\/p>\n

Ventura: I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122m not sure that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s fair.
\nHershiser: There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re some hair gels that make your hands sticky too.
\nPatrick (pointing to Hershiser): You know, you have to admire somebody that never missed a trick and that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s him!
\nHershiser: It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a foreign substance because you only get the stuff that\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s made in America.
\nVentura laughs incredulously.
\nOrel Hershiser takes his place as my new favorite baseball broadcaster.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Between the top and bottom of the second:<\/strong>
\nWe get a \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sportscenter Right Now\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Update.\u00c2\u00a0 Donald Fehr has stepped down from his position as the head of the MLBPA.\u00c2\u00a0 The man presided over the union when it walked out on the 1994 season, threatened to lock out the 2002 season, and supposedly leaked the dates that players would be tested for steroids.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s an understatement to say that I will not miss Donald Fehr.\u00c2\u00a0 I hope his next job involves guarding Hannibal Lecter\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s prison cell.<\/p>\n

Bottom of the 4th: LSU 1, Tex 0<\/strong>
\nTravis Tucker, Russell Moldenhauer, and Kevin Keyes all go deep.\u00c2\u00a0 The light-hitting Texas squad has taken the lead off of three separate solo homeruns.<\/p>\n

Reason number 70 to love the College World Series:\u00c2\u00a0 The kids look like they enjoy playing the game.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s not a job for them.\u00c2\u00a0 They don\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t attack it with the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153utmost professionalism\u00e2\u20ac\u009d and grind<\/a> away.\u00c2\u00a0 Most of them maximize their time in Omaha, and they go wild for every homer.<\/p>\n

That being said, taking off your helmet and tapping the helmet of your teammate after hitting a homer is like a seven year-old drinking a Super Big Gulp.\u00c2\u00a0 It really has to go.<\/p>\n

Top of the 6th: LSU 1, Tex 3; Two men on, two out<\/strong>
\nChance Ruffing gives way to Austin Wood.\u00c2\u00a0 ESPN reminds us it\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s warm in Omaha in late June.\u00c2\u00a0 They show a shot of Ruffing cramping up in the dugout.\u00c2\u00a0 Two-sport star, Jared Mitchell smokes a triple into the left-centerfield gap to tie the game.<\/p>\n

Bottom of the 6th: LSU 3, Tex 3<\/strong>
\nComing out of the break, ESPN shows a highlight of Ventura\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hitting streak ending at 58 games.\u00c2\u00a0 Hershiser and Patrick try to get Ventura to boast a little.\u00c2\u00a0 Ventura no-sells it like Hulk Hogan receiving a right hook; yet another reason I like Robin Ventura more than Joe Morgan, who would have reminded us he both played with Pete Rose and is a Hall-of-Famer before allowing anyone else to chime in.<\/p>\n

Brandon Belt strokes a liner to centerfield.\u00c2\u00a0 LSU outfielder and eventual hero of the game, Mikie Mahtook spins around three times before hauling the ball in on the warning track.\u00c2\u00a0 He took a route to the ball that Magellan would have been proud of but made an incredible catch.\u00c2\u00a0 He immediately pays for that expenditure of fluid on this warm day, as his leg begins to cramp up.<\/p>\n

Mike Patrick reminds us that you have to hydrate both before AND during the game.\u00c2\u00a0 Keep that in mind: on a hot day, one glass of water at eight in the morning will not be enough.<\/p>\n

Bottom of the 7th: LSU 4, Tex 6<\/strong>
\nChad Jones takes over for LSU starter Louis Coleman.\u00c2\u00a0 Jones will play free safety for LSU in the fall, but at the moment, he mows down the Texas hitters, finishing the inning by striking Brandon Belt out on a filthy breaking ball.<\/p>\n

Bottom of the 8th: LSU 4, Tex 6<\/strong>
\nWe have a break in the action.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s hot.\u00c2\u00a0 Erin Andrews talks about the number of times the Texas catcher has changed his jersey.\u00c2\u00a0 Ventura lets us know that the delay can be attributed to waiting for \u00e2\u20ac\u0153dry balls.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

I mean nobody wants a handful of wet balls.\u00c2\u00a0 It\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s simply impossible to get a firm grasp of slippery balls.\u00c2\u00a0 I need to stop before Mike Lynch revokes my writing privileges on the site.\u00c2\u00a0 You have to admit, though, it is imperative that the umpire dries his sack of balls.\u00c2\u00a0 (Sorry, Mike.)<\/p>\n

Top of the 9th: LSU 4, Tex 6; P Austin Wood faces 6, 7, 8 hitters of LSU\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s lineup<\/strong>
\nBad mojo alert!\u00c2\u00a0 With one out in the inning, ESPN elects Russell Moldenhauer as the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Capital One Player of the Game.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 I wrote about this a month ago<\/a>.\u00c2\u00a0 Awarding the \u00e2\u20ac\u0153player of the game\u00e2\u20ac\u009d before the <\/a>final out is recorded is the equivalent of having William H. Macy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s character in \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Cooler\u00e2\u20ac\u009d sit next to you at a blackjack table.<\/p>\n

In response, Moldenhauer attempts to discretely pick his nose with a pen.\u00c2\u00a0 There\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s no way this doesn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t end badly.<\/p>\n

Single, walk, call to the bullpen, shot of the LSU dugout with rally caps donned, strikeout, PING!!!\u00c2\u00a0 DJ LeMahieu puts on his Superman cape and drives a first-pitch changeup into the leftfield corner.\u00c2\u00a0 Tie game.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Capital One Player of the Game 1, Texas 0.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Top of the 11th: LSU 6, Tex 6; Two on, two out<\/strong>
\nMikie Mahtook, with a bandage on his forearm from the IV he received earlier in the game, flips a 1-2 hanging breaking ball into centerfield.\u00c2\u00a0 LeMahieu scores.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Capital One Player of the Game 2, Texas 0.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Bottom of the 11th: LSU 7, Tex 6<\/strong>
\nMatty Ott, in his third inning of work, strikes out the first two hitters, works to a 3-2 count on Connor Rowe, and gets the centerfielder to reach for an outside slider and bounce to second.\u00c2\u00a0 LSU wins. \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Capital One Player of the Game 3, Texas 0.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

In the end<\/strong>
\nWe learned that Orel Hershiser liked to stretch the rules in his playing days; Erin Andrews looks good on muggy nights in Omaha; even if all your broadcasters wear purple there\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s a good chance they\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re still more palatable than Joe Morgan; umpires shouldn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t have a sack of wet balls; and ESPN employs a vast array of wizards, warlocks, and magicians that control the hands of fate simply by awarding athletes meaningless prizes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In case you missed it, LSU and Texas played an 11-inning gem on Monday night that featured power, pitching, clutch performances, and Orel Hershiser.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":53,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/53"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1299\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seamheads.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}