An LSU Title Means History for 2 Tigers

OMAHA, Neb. -- Yes, that's Les Miles.

Miles, LSU's football coach, will be cheering for the Tigers against Texas in the College Word Series Tuesday night at Rosenblatt Stadium. Miles and LSU men's basketball coach Trent Johnson arrived from Baton Rouge, La., late Tuesday afternoon. LSU will try to win its sixth national title -- and first since 2000 -- in Game 2 of the best-of-three championship series.

Miles will be watching two of his football players on the baseball diamond in Jared Mitchell (pictured right) and Chad Jones. Nearly 18 months after helping the Tigers beat Ohio State for the 2007 BCS national championship -- LSU's second title in five years -- Mitchell and Jones have a chance to do something special: win a national championship in two different sports.

It's a feat so rare that only one athlete in LSU history has accomplished it.

Bennie Brazell was a receiver on the Tigers' 2003 BCS championship as well as a sprinter on the track and field's 2002 outdoor and 2004 indoor national championship teams. According to LSU officials, Mitchell and Jones also are the first student-athletes in NCAA history to play for a BCS national championship and participate in the CWS.

Mitchell, a first-round selection of the Chicago White Sox in the major league amateur draft earlier this month, scorched a two-run triple in the Tigers' 7-6 victory over the Longhorns Monday night. Jones, a lefty, tossed a scoreless inning of relief with one strikeout.

Hopefully, Miles, who arrived at Rosenblatt around 4 p.m. and generated a loud of ovation from LSU fans in the left-field bleachers, brought an umbrella with him.

While the heat advisory that was in effect Monday continued Tuesday, with highs forecast near 100 with a heat index expected to be somewhere between 105 and 112 degrees, according to the National Weather Service, heavy rains and lightning delayed the start of the game.

Earlier Tuesday, LSU baseball coach Paul Mainieri said right-hander Austin Ross will start Game 2. Ross, LSU's No. 3 starter during the regular season, allowed one run on two hits in two innings of relief against Virginia in the opening game of the CWS. Ross is 6-7 with a 5.09 ERA in 18 appearances, including 16 starts.

After Monday's game, Texas coach Augie Garrido said freshman Taylor Jungmann (10-3, 2.21 ERA) would take the mound Tuesday. Jungmann made a brief relief appearance in the ninth inning of Monday's game, walking the only hitter he faced on four pitches.

Mainieri expects his team to be focused despite Monday's heroics. LSU rallied from 3-1 and 6-4 deficits and withstood five Texas home runs.

"I think they understand that we haven't won anything yet," Mainieri said.

"I've been drilling it into their heads: We haven't played for the national championship yet. Everybody kept saying, 'You're playing for the national championship.' No we didn't. We needed to win a game before we were playing for the national championship. Now, we're playing for the national championship. Wow. Those are pretty cool words, actually."