The Tar Heels (54-13) forced another game Sunday against Fresno State (44-30), the first No. 4 regional seed to reach the CWS. It was the second straight elimination game Carolina won on a late home run. Tim Federowicz?s grand slam in the ninth broke a tie in a 7-3 win over LSU on Friday. Another win Sunday would wrap up Bracket 2 and send North Carolina to the best-of-three championship round for the third straight year, this time against Georgia. Meanwhile, Fresno State is trying to continue its surprising postseason run and make its first appearance in the finals in its third trip to Omaha.
Ya know somebody has to let me know how on like 95% of games in the 8th/9th inning just turn for the team who is down...
Georgia and Fresno State will play for College World Series championship The Kansas City Star OMAHA, Neb. | A pair of bulldogs will tangle for college baseball’s top prize, with one considerably more rested than the other. Fresno State’s Bulldogs qualified for their first College World Series final by defeating North Carolina 6-1 on Sunday night. They’ll turn around quickly and face Georgia’s Bulldogs, who ran through their side of the bracket without a loss, which means in the new series schedule Georgia will be playing its fourth game in nine days tonight when the finals begin at 6 p.m. Fine by Georgia. “We were all getting kind of itchy and talking back to each other,” shortstop Gordon Beckman said. “But all we wanted to do is be playing on the last day.” This year marked a change in the series calendar. When the College World Series went to a best-of-three final in 2003, the series started on a Saturday. Now, it’s strictly a weeknight affair. You’ll get no complaints from Fresno State, which may be the most unlikely finalist in years. Fresno started the year 8-12, adjusted to a string of injuries and found its stride late in the year. Their record stood at 31-27 after the Bulldogs won the Western Athletic Conference tournament to receive the league’s automatic bid in the NCAA. Some reward: They received a No. 4 regional seed, and no team from that position had ever reached Omaha. But Fresno thumped Long Beach State and San Diego in the regional, and after losing the super regional opener at Arizona State, beat the Sun Devils twice to qualify for its first World Series since 1991. The task in Omaha would be no less daunting. But Fresno pounded Rice 17-5 in the opener and dropped the Tar Heels in the second game. North Carolina rallied for a victory over the Bulldogs on Saturday, but Fresno returned the favor on Sunday. Third baseman Tommy Mendonca drove in four runs. Fresno’s postseason run is happening without its best pitcher, Tanner Scheppers, lost because of a shoulder injury in May. Didn’t matter. Between the lines, everything has been going right for the Bulldogs. “We just started playing baseball,” coach Mike Batesole said. “We’ve been playing really well for the past five or six weeks.” Good enough to stand two victories away from completing a remarkable turnaround.
The Associated Press Published on: 06/23/08 Omaha, Neb. — Joey Lewis hit a tiebreaking double in Georgia's four-run eighth inning, and the Bulldogs came from three runs down to defeat Fresno State 7-6 in Game 1 of the College World Series finals Monday night. Fresno State appeared to take control in the top of the eighth when it scored three runs to go up 6-3. But Georgia wasn't finished, and now stands one win away from a second national championship to go with the one it won in 1990. Fresno State, 4-0 in elimination games in the NCAA tournament, will try to keep its improbable postseason run alive when the teams meet in Game 2 on Tuesday.
UGA was up 5-0, but Frezzno struck back with 6 in the third to take a 6-5 lead. 6-6 in the fourth... 8-6 Frezno. i cant keep up with the scoring, lol. 13-6 in the 5th. 15-10 seventh inning stretch
I have a feeling that it's going down the wire tonight. Georgia has the talent, but Fresno has the will and the heart to upset them. If someone...anyone...from Fresno's depleted pitching staff steps up and pitches a solid 4-5 innings, I think they'll take the game on momentum alone. They just want it more. Great story lines for both teams though...this has been an exciting CWS.
Fresno State pounds Georgia, forces third game at College World Series By BLAIR KERKHOFF The Kansas City Star Fresno State’s Tommy Mendonca (right) celebrated after a three-run homer Tuesday in the Bulldogs’ 19-10 victory over Georgia. OMAHA, Neb. | Fresno State pitching coach Mike Mayne, father of former Royals catcher Brent Mayne, stood at the end of the dugout in the final moments of the Bulldogs’ 19-10 triumph over Georgia and remembered where he was last month. “We were battling to beat Sacramento State to win the (Western Athletic Conference), and it was hard,” Mayne said. “And we needed San Jose State to beat Nevada to help us. “Now, we’re playing for the national championship.” Go figure. Fresno State knotted up the College World Series best-of-three finale in a most unlikely game on Tuesday. The Bulldogs fell behind 5-0, and then, as Georgia coach David Perno said, “We had a tough time defending the post pattern.” And a whole bunch more. On a night when a team needed a pitcher to step up, Fresno State got one. He was Holden Sprague, and although his numbers don’t jump off the page — 3 1/3 innings, eight hits, five runs, three earned — he stopped the bleeding while Fresno State’s bats continued to cook. This is the pitcher whose father is an astronaut, or so it says in the Fresno State media guide. Don Sprague isn’t in NASA. He’s a financial planner. Holden passed along the joke to school publicists, but ESPN announcer and former major-leaguer Barry Larkin bought it during a broadcast earlier in the College World Series. “I got 50,000 text messages and missed calls from people,” Sprague said. “It was awesome. I was glad to get him a little air time.” And Don is enjoying it. “I have a space shuttle to catch,” he yelled down to reporters interviewing his son after the game. While Sprague pitched effectively, Fresno State kept clubbing. Hard to believe a game that featured 29 runs and 34 hits had a critical at-bat, but that’s what happened in the third. Georgia looked well on its way to a series sweep when it took the 5-0 lead as Fresno State came to bat. Three runs were across when Tommy Mendonca stepped up. He turned on Stephen Dodson’s first pitch and sent it halfway up the right-field bleachers. The three-run shot gave Fresno State the lead. “Got lucky,” Mendonca said. No and yes. It was Mendonca’s fourth home run of the College World Series, tying a record. He has 19 home runs for the year. But Mendonca also entered the game having struck out 96 times, an NCAA season record. He’s been all or nothing, and his home run was something. Asked if he thought Georgia would pitch to him with first base open, Mendonca said he would have. “Why not?” he said. “When you look at the other stats.” From there, it was up to Fresno State to find the right arm to keep the lead, and Sprague was precisely what Mayne was seeking. “We wanted him to throw strikes,” Mayne said. “That’s the bottom line. If they beat you by hitting the ball, that’s fine. Let them put it in play.” It worked. When Georgia closed to 15-10 with a four-run seventh, Fresno answered with a three spot. Just throw strikes, and let Mayne take it all in. Tuesday’s victory was the fifth time in the NCAA tournament that Fresno State staved off elimination, and the Bulldogs wouldn’t even have qualified for the event had they not won the WAC Tournament. They entered NCAA play with a 38-27 record and a No. 4 regional seed. No team with that credential had ever reached Omaha. Oh, and these Bulldogs haven’t played a game at home since May 11. Tuesday’s game marked the 21st straight away from Fresno. That’s six weeks on the road. “It really is hard to believe we’re here,” Mayne said.
Fresno very lucky there. Georgia deep fly out with 2 outs and bases loaded. 2-0 Fresno after 2. The Fresno SS is terrible. He just had an easy ground ball and airmailed the ball too high for the 2nd baseman to catch it and stay on the bag. Chuck Knoblauch?
1 out triple by georgia but he's stranded (poor play by the OF on a fly ball) Georgia has too many lefties in the lineup. Take a guy like Lyle Allen. He's not good anyway, why is he starting vs. a lefty?
Last night's game was an example of why I love college baseball. As an FSU alum it's just another year of a top 5 regular season finish snuffed out in the post-season, at least they made the trip to Omaha this year. Rooting for Fresno tonight to make the Cinderella run complete.
