So, the first season for the new Alex Box Stadium ended the way it began -- with a Louis Coleman victory.

The inaugural season in the new Box ended the way the last season of the old Box did -- with LSU celebrating a super regional victory that earned the Tigers a trip to the College World Series.

A postseason series on the road to Omaha featured what no previous one did -- LSU defeating the Rice Owls.

The Tigers did it twice in two games this weekend, finishing off Rice with a 5-3 victory Saturday evening in front of another Alex Box Stadium record crowd (9,651).

LSU (51-16) has a 10-game winning streak and a first-round game next weekend against the winner of today's super-regional Game 3 between the Virginia Cavaliers and the Ole Miss Rebels.

"Omaha," LSU coach Paul Mainieri said, "here come the Tigers."

The trip, LSU's 15th, will be Mainieri's second with the Tigers and third overall. LSU will be playing in Rosenblatt Stadium for a second consecutive season for the first time since 2004.

"This year we’re going to go up there with seven great ballclubs," Mainieri said. "I figure one team has to win, so it might as well be us."

LSU won the last of its five national championships in 2000.

Coleman (13-2) pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on nine hits. Matty Ott picked up his 16th save.

Derek Helenihi started at third base and hit a solo home run in the sixth inning for LSU's final run. His single in the fourth inning drove in the second run after Jared Mitchell dropped in a bloop double between left field and shortstop to lead off the inning.

Micah Gibbs and Mikie Mahtook each drove in a run for the Tigers.

Brock Holt, who was 3-for-5, and Diego Seastrunk each hit one-out solo homers for Rice.

Coleman, a senior right-hander pitching his last home game for LSU, minimized the damage, something he and Anthony Ranaudo have done most of the year. Coleman didn't walk a batter -- although he hit two -- and he retired the first batter in six of his eight innings.

"Being my last start I’ll ever get at LSU, I wanted to go out there and do something special not only for the team, but for the fans too," Coleman said. "I wanted to give it everything I had.

"Rice is an unbelievable ballclub. It would have been nice to see them in Omaha because of how good they are, but at the same time, someone has to go to Omaha, and I’m glad it’s us. It was great to get out there and get a win, especially on my last day, and get it (the super regional championship) in two."

Coleman opened the season with a 12-3 victory Feb. 20 against Villanova to christen the new stadium.

Rice (43-18) entered the series with a 6-0 regional and super regional record against LSU. Wayne Graham's program twice defeated LSU in regionals at the old Box in 1995 and 2005, winning the latter, and swept a super regional against LSU in Houston in 2002.

"Obviously, LSU has some baseball team," Graham said. "I thought we competed well. Today we just fell a little short, that’s all."

The Tigers led 1-0 after their first batter, D.J. LeMahieu, opened the game with a double and scored on Mikie Mahtook's ground out to shortstop. Rice tied the score at 2-2 in the fourth inning, but LSU scored twice in the fifth and once in the sixth for enough runs.

Throughout the game, the Tigers seemed on the verge of big innings. The building blocks were there for a similar blowout like the one LSU closed out the old Box with a year ago, that 21-7 victory against UC Irvine.

Against Rice, LSU loaded the bases in the first but only scored once. The Tigers had runners thrown out at third base in the fourth inning (the first out) and the seventh inning (the first and second outs) and another caught in a rundown in the sixth inning.

"We come out and D.J. leads off with the double, and as a result we got something going. We got the bases loaded against the kid (Rice starter Ryan Berry), and we were making the kid throw pitches. I just thought we were one hit away from just blowing the game open right away," Mainieri said.

"It was reminding me of last year’s final game in the super regional. We just didn’t quite get that hit that we needed and let them stay around, and they fought back."

Rice lost third baseman Anthony Rendon, the National Freshman of the Year, to an injury in the second inning. Chasing a fly ball into the LSU bullpen in foul territory, he fell when a teammate appeared to step on his foot.

After two teammates carried him off the field, Rendon spent much of the evening supporting himself with crutches.

Graham downplayed the injury and its impact upon the Owls.

"Even through Anthony Rendon went down, we put another left-handed batter in the lineup," said Graham, who led Rice to the 2003 national championship at the CWS. "Coleman’s problem in Omaha is going to be against a stacked left-handed lineup. That would be the best way to get a W, is to put left-handed hitters in the lineup."

Mainieri, who typically wears his heart on his sleeve when it comes to players who have won his loyalty, spoke highly of Coleman.

"As a coach, it’s very important that you don’t play favorites with kids, but I have to admit after what this kid has gone through in his career, you see why the kid is great," Mainieri said. "First of all he has a lot of talent, but he is such a passionate person. I love passionate people. I love people that feel alive and want to do great things.

"I’ll remember these conversations I had with him last summer until the day I die. When he decided he was going to come back (for his senior season), I said, ‘Louis, you will make all the difference in the world with our team. You are the final piece of our puzzle for next year’s team. We’re going to go back to Omaha because of you.’ Every time he’s given the ball he gives the greatest effort that any human being could possibly give for his school. He’s certainly going to go down in history with me and my coaching career as one of my all-time favorite kids."

Berry (7-2) wasn't on top of his game.

"We could see his location wasn’t as good as we’d heard, and his numbers are unbelievable," LeMahieu said. "It was good to get to him early and make him throw a lot of pitches."

"Berry had such good numbers that you just hope to get a good pitch to hit and then take advantage of it," Helenihi said. "I got a couple of good pitches to hit early in the count, and I put some good swings on them. It worked out well for me."

And for the Tigers.

"When you don’t throw a first-pitch strike or anywhere near the zone it’s easy (for the batters) to take the first two or three pitches," Berry said. "We understood their weaknesses, and we tried to exploit them, but when you can’t get ahead of them in the count they can sit back and wait all day.

"LSU is a very good SEC hitting team. Obviously, they were very patient at the plate because I allowed them to be. Coleman went out there and threw strikes, but when you don’t throw strikes it’s easier for them to hit."

.

Carl Dubois has covered LSU sports since 1999. He watched the super regional on ESPN and thinks you should go to Omaha if you get the chance. Rosenblatt Stadium has this CWS and one more before Omaha unveils a new stadium for the Series. Carl will soon have a column wrapping up the weekend and looking ahead to Omaha. You can contact him by writing carl1061 'at' gmail.com.