Omaha, Neb ? LSU, which two years ago wasn’t good enough to qualify for its conference tournament, is the best team in college baseball again.

The Tigers won their sixth national title Wednesday night, breaking open Game 3 of the College World Series finals with a five-run sixth inning that carried them to an 11-4 victory over Texas.

Jared Mitchell hit a three-run homer in the first inning as LSU (56-17) built a 4-0 lead. Texas (50-16-1) pulled even, but Mikie Mahtook’s tiebreaking double ignited the Tigers’ big sixth against the mistake-prone Longhorns.

“It’s everybody pulling together, a sense of urgency we had, and we began to play our best ball at the end of the year,” said Mitchell, voted the CWS Most Outstanding Player.

Mitchell added to the title he earned as a wide receiver on the 2007 LSU team that won the BCS championship. Earlier this month, he was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the first round.

It was the first national title for coach Paul Mainieri, who played his freshman year at LSU in 1976 and returned to the school after coaching stops at St. Thomas (Fla.), Air Force and Notre Dame.

“I’ve had wonderful kids everywhere I’ve been,” Mainieri said. “They’re all feeling a part of this. I’m so happy for these kids. They’ve done everything I’ve asked.”

Anthony Ranaudo (12-3) gained the win in a so-so outing that saw him allow four runs on eight hits and five walks in 5 1/3 innings. Brandon Workman (3-5) took the loss.

The Tigers came into the CWS ranked No. 1 in the major polls, and that’s where they’ll finish after keeping Texas from becoming the first No. 1 seed to win the NCAA Tournament since Miami in 1999.

“They are the best team we’ve played by far,” Texas coach Augie Garrido said. “We didn’t lose it. They won it. It was a well-deserved championship.”

LSU won national titles in 1991, ’93, ’96, ’97 and 2000 under Skip Bertman.

TENNIS

Sharapova exits early

Wimbledon, England — Maria Sharapova won seven consecutive games during one stretch but let a late lead slip away Wednesday and was beaten by Gisela Dulko, 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, in the second round at Wimbledon. In a wild, 14-point final game, Sharapova saved four match points. But on the fifth she pushed an easy forehand long, and she was out of the tournament after two rounds for the second year in a row.

Roger Federer and Serena Williams advanced with little trouble. Federer, bidding for his sixth Wimbledon championship and a record 15th major title overall, lost only three points on his first serve and defeated Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, 6-2, 6-2, 6-4.

Williams, a two-time champion seeded second, committed only six unforced errors and defeated Jarmila Groth, 6-2, 6-1. Then she learned that Sharapova had been beaten, easing Williams’ path to the semifinals.

NFL

Chiefs to honor Thomas

Kansas City, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs will retire the number of the late Hall of Fame linebacker Derrick Thomas during a ceremony Dec. 6. Thomas wore No. 58 during his 11 seasons with the Chiefs. He died in February 2000 of injuries from a car accident.

Peppers signs tender

Charlotte, N.C. — Julius Peppers’ stalemate with the Carolina Panthers is over, leaving the defensive end rich and the NFC South champions free from worrying about a holdout. Peppers signed his one-year, $16.7 million tender on Wednesday, five months after the four-time Pro Bowl selection first announced he wanted to play elsewhere next season.

COLLEGES

OU rewards Stoops, Capel

Ardmore, Okla. — Football coach Bob Stoops and basketball coach Jeff Capel have received new contract extensions featuring stay bonuses aimed at keeping them at Oklahoma long term. Regents governing the university voted Wednesday to approve the new contracts that would keep both of the coaches in charge of the Sooners for seven more seasons.

Stoops’ new deal would pay him more than $30 million through the end of 2015. He would earn a total of $3.675 million next season, including an annual stay bonus of $700,000 that rewards him for staying through usual coaching hiring season.

Capel would receive $13.28 million for staying at Oklahoma through June 2016. He’s set to earn $1.5 million next season.

SOCCER

U.S. stuns Spain, 2-0

Bloemfontein, South Africa — The U.S. soccer team pulled off a major upset Wednesday, beating top-ranked Spain, 2-0, on goals by Jozy Altidore and Clint Dempsey.

The victory sends the Americans to the Confederations Cup final, and snaps Spain’s 15-game winning streak. Spain hadn’t been beaten since a loss to Romania in November 2006.

The United States is ranked 14th and was nearly eliminated after losing its first two games in the eight-nation Confederations Cup, a World Cup warmup.

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

Iowa coach killed

Parkersburg, Iowa — A high school coach who helped launch several professional football careers was gunned down by a former player Wednesday morning in front of students taking part in an offseason workout, authorities said.

Mark Becker, who was supposed to have been taken to a hospital psychiatric ward after allegedly leading police on a high-speed chase Saturday night, unloaded several rounds into Aplington-Parkersburg High School football coach Ed Thomas and was arrested at a nearby home soon afterward, said Kevin Winker, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.