OMAHA, Neb. — LSU had more than just a monkey on their back the entire game against Texas on Monday night — they had a gorilla.But the Tigers refused to allow the same “gorilla ball” they rode to a 3-0 start in Omaha to knock them to their knees.A two-run ninth-inning comeback capped by a two-out double by LSU sophomore second baseman DJ LeMahieu and an 11th-inning single by freshman center fielder Mikie Mahtook carried the Tigers to a 7-6 victory in game one in the best of three championship series in front of more than 23,000 screaming fans.With the victory, LSU is now 2-0 in extra inning games this season with both wins coming in the postseason.LSU coach Paul Mainieri said it was the biggest win he has ever been a part of.”That was the most courageous, never-say-die resolve I have ever seen out of one of my teams in my 27 years of coaching,” the Southeastern Conference Coach of the Year said.Mahtook had not exactly had an All-American night entering his at bat in the 11th inning, though.The Lafayette native had struck out three times and grounded into a double play in his first four at bats but came up with a single in the 10th inning that he said got him feeling better about his night.He had also cramped up earlier in the game after a twisting catch on a deep fly ball in the sixth inning. With the heat index at near 110 degrees at the start of the game, both teams were feeling the effects.Texas catcher Cameron Rupp had to change jerseys multiple times in the game, and Texas starter Chance Ruffin had calf cramps — although he said after the game that the cramps were not the reason he exited the game after throwing 87 pitches and striking out 10 LSU batters in 5 2/3 innings. Mahtook’s cramps forced him to get an IV between the sixth and seventh innings.But the LSU freshman said he and the trainers caught the cramps before they got too bad. “The older guys told me … to be patient because I would still have a chance to come up and get a big hit,” Mahtook said of his early at bats. “So I kept my head up, and I got the base hit.”Then freshman closer Matty Ott, who came on in relief the ninth inning, shut down the Longhorns in the bottom of the 11th to get the win to the roar of the crowd’s overwhelmingly loud “Geaux Tigers” chants.In all, the LSU relief pitching trio of sophomore Chad Jones, junior Paul Bertuccini and Ott combined for five innings of no-hit baseball while striking out four and walking two.”They were all great tonight,” Mainieri said.The Longhorns never made it easy to shake that gorilla off, though, as they cranked five solo home runs, all coming off LSU starting pitcher Louis Coleman.The senior had gotten off to a solid start at the beginning of the ball game, throwing less than 40 pitches in the first three innings with two three-up, three-down innings.LSU junior left fielder Ryan Schimpf opened the scoring with his own solo home run in the top of the first inning.But a trio of home runs in the fourth inning gave Texas a 3-1 lead.The first two long balls, hit by second baseman Travis Tucker and designated hitter Russell Moldenhauer, were eerily similar to the two the Longhorns hit in the ninth inning to defeat Arizona State to reach the championship series.Tucker’s landed in left-center field while Moldenhauer’s home run hit the Virginia flag pole above the batter’s eye in centerfield. The Texas cleanup hitter entered the game as a .233 hitter with one home run on the season but finished 3-for-3 with two RBI on two solo homeruns in his 24th start of the season.”I was feeling good and relaxed at the plate,” Moldenhauer said. “I was putting a good swing on it.”The third home run was a two-out shot to left field by right fielder Kevin Keyes.The three home runs was the most in one inning in a College World Series game since June 1, 1998, when LSU did it against Mississippi State.In all, Texas finished with five home runs off Coleman, who went six-plus innings, giving up six runs on nine hits while striking out six.The final pitch Coleman threw landed about 10 rows up in left center field.The previous record for home runs by one team in a game of the championship series, a format which began in 2003, was three by Fresno State last year against Georgia. The Longhorns’ five home runs also tied the record for most home runs in any College World Series championship game set by USC in 1998 against Arizona State.”It was an incredible game between two teams that were doing unbelievable things to win a game,” said Texas coach Augie Garrido. “The team that lost the game was going to feel the wrath of baseball. We were that team tonight.”Garrido said freshman pitcher Taylor Jungmann will get the start for the Longhorns in Tuesday’s game two after throwing six straight balls in relief Monday.Mainieri said he’d “sleep on it” before making a decision on the Tigers’ starter.To read lsureveille.com’s live blog of the game, click here.To check out lsureveille.com’s College World Series page, click here.—-Contact Andy Schwehm at [email protected]