Cinderella in cleats: Fresno State wins College World Series
Cbaseball Betting Lines
06/26/2008 -
Omaha, NE (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Steve Detwiler went 4-for-4, including a pair of
homers, and drove in all the runs for Fresno State, which won its first
College World Series championship with a 6-1 victory over Georgia.
Georgia used an eighth-inning rally to take Monday's opening game, 7-6, though
Fresno State powered to a 19-10 win on Tuesday. Detwiler was the driving force
Wednesday in helping Fresno State take the best-of-three series, setting
records for most home runs, most extra-base hits, most RBI and most total
bases in a championship game.
He provided enough offense for Fresno State starter Justin Wilson, who threw
eight brilliant innings, giving up only one run on five hits, while striking
out nine. Tommy Mendonca, who hit four homers and drove in 11 over the course
of the tournament, and had stellar defense at third base, was named Most
Outstanding Player.
The school became the lowest seeded team to win an NCAA championship in any
sport. It was a fourth seed at the Long Beach Regional, and began its unlikely
run there, knocking off 11th-seeded Long Beach State and sixth-ranked San
Diego. In the Super Regional, Fresno State won two of three against third-
ranked Arizona State to reach the College World Series.
Fresno State went on to beat fifth-ranked Rice, eliminate second-ranked North
Carolina and staved off elimination three times in the same tournament, ending
with a 47-31 record.
Gordon Beckham went 2-for-4 with a solo homer to provide Georgia's only run,
and tied LSU's Matt Clark for the national lead in homers with 28. Starter
Nathan Moreau was solid in five innings, holding the Fresno State offense to
three runs -- two earned -- on three hits, but took the loss.
"First, I have to tip my hat to Fresno State," Georgia head coach David Perno
said. "They are a true champion. They did it the hard way with five games in
five days...To our guys, just a group of guys who went 23-33 (last year) and
set their sights that they were going to be here, and not only did we get
here, but we did a fair share of winning here."
Georgia, which finished with a 45-25-1 record, lost its first game of the
Athens Regional to Lipscomb, but won four straight from there to advance to
the Super Regionals. After winning two of three against N.C. State, Georgia
advanced to the College World Series, where it was undefeated in three games
until meeting Fresno State. Georgia last won the CWS in 1990.
"We just came up one short. It was unfortunate tonight. We had some
opportunities and we hit some balls hard at those times but nothing fell for
us. We just couldn't keep them in the yard," Perno said.
In the top of the second, Steve Susdorf got on board with an infield single.
After an Alan Ahmady fly out, Detwiler smacked a ball to right field that just
got over the fence in right field for a 2-0 Fresno State lead.
Georgia got a rally going in the home second as Danny Muno made a pair of
errors. The shortstop dropped the ball while lunging forward, allowing leadoff
hitter Bryce Massanari to reach base. Later, Muno made too high a throw for a
force out at second, leaving the bases loaded with two outs. But Gavin
Hedstrom made a nice catch on a long drive from Ryan Peisel to end the threat.
Detwiler sent a deep drive to center in the fourth to plate another run, and
put Fresno State on top 3-0, but his biggest -- at least longest -- hit of the
night came in the sixth.
With two outs, Susdorf doubled and Ahmady walked against Dean Weaver, who
relieved Moreau at the beginning of the frame. Detwiler then crushed a high
fastball to left, into the last several rows of the stands, boosting Fresno
State's lead to 6-1.
Beckham led off the bottom of the eighth, but Wilson got out of the inning
without further damage. Clayton Allison got into trouble in the bottom of the
ninth -- two on and none out -- but closer Brandon Burke got David Thoms to
ground into a double play. Matt Olson then hit a fly to right field, which
Detwiler caught to end the game.
<< Rays batter Fish for 15 runs in romp
Miami, FL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Carl Crawford homered twice and drove in five
runs, and the Tampa Bay Rays scored 10 runs in the fifth inning en route to a
15-3 decimation of the Florida Marlins in the middle contest of their three-
game se
<< Soto carries Cubs past O's
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Geovany Soto was 2-for-3 with three runs batted
in, as the Chicago Cubs took advantage of a patchwork Baltimore pitching
performance with a 7-4 victory at Wrigley Field.
Jim Edmonds homered and drove in
<< Royals sweep Rockies to continue interleague success
Kansas City, MO (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ross Gload had two doubles, two runs batted
in and scored as the streaking Kansas City Royals completed a three-game sweep
of the Colorado Rockies with a 4-2 victory.
David DeJesus and Alex Gordon each h
<< Wright clubs 2 HRs in return to lineup as Mets pound Mariners
Flushing, NY (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - After a much-needed day off, David Wright
homered in his first two at-bats and the New York Mets avoided a three-game
sweep with 8-2 win over the Seattle Mariners at Shea Stadium.
Wright had played e
<< Orioles scratch Burres from start
Chicago, IL (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Baltimore Orioles scratched left-
handed pitcher Brian Burres from his scheduled start Wednesday due to an
undiagnosed stomach ailment.
Burres was replaced on the mound by righty Matt
Zito finally posts interleague win as Giants top Tribe >>
Cleveland, OH (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Barry Zito put together his best and
longest outing of the season, lifting the San Francisco Giants to a 4-1
victory over the Cleveland Indians in the middle contest of a three-game
interle
Ramirez homer lifts Rangers over Astros; Chacon attacks GM >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Max Ramirez collected the first two hits of
his major league career -- including a go-ahead two-run home run -- as the
Texas Rangers edged the Houston Astros, 3-2, in the second of a three-game
series
Confrontation with GM leads to suspension for Astros' Chacon >>
Houston, TX (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Houston Astros have suspended pitcher
Shawn Chacon indefinitely for insubordination to the team, general manager Ed
Wade announced on Wednesday.
"We have suspended Shawn Chacon, pending final resol
Stults, Dodgers blank White Sox >>
Los Angeles, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Eric Stults tossed his first career
shutout, as the Los Angeles Dodgers defeated the Chicago White Sox, 5-0, in
the middle installment of a three-game interleague set at Chavez Ravine.
Stults (2
Twins keep on rolling with drubbing of Pads >>
San Diego, CA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Brendan Harris and Craig Monroe clubbed two-
run homers, and the Minnesota Twins got to Greg Maddux to post their eighth
straight victory, 9-3, over the San Diego Padres.
Carlos Gomez had three hits, incl
|
