FanHouse Chance Ruffin

OMAHA, Neb. -- It's finally settled. LSU truly deserves to be No. 1.

The Tigers, ranked No. 1 in the country as voted by the national polls, squandered an early lead but recovered impressively to beat No. 1 tournament seed Texas 11-4 and win the College World Series Wednesday night. LSU used a five-run sixth inning to snap a 4-4 tie and roll to its sixth national title -- and first since 2000 -- in Game 3 of the best-of-three national championship series.

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OMAHA, Neb. -- Sorry, but Augie Garrido's message to his Texas Longhorns late Monday night was private. Between head coach and team. The neighborly Garrido, who can spin a life-lesson while filling out a lineup card, wanted to make sure his players knew the score.

Sure, Texas already knew that score. The Longhorns, who had made a habit of winning on walk-off theatrics in the College World Series, had to swallow a dose of their own medicine, Bayou-flavor. The LSU Tigers scored two runs in the top of the ninth to tie the game at 6-all and then won it two innings later, 7-6. Both hits came with two outs, and, just to slip another burr under Texas' saddle, LSU survived five Longhorns home runs to boot.

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