National Collegiate Athletic Association
NCAA News Archive - 2008
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The NCAA News
What do you call a college baseball team with 31 losses?
National champions.
The final championship on the 2007-08 calendar became one of the most improbable in NCAA history with the Fresno State Bulldogs belting their way to Men’s College World Series title in Rosenblatt Stadium on June 25.
Since the championship expanded to 64 teams in 1999, the 47-31 Bulldogs are the first No. 4 regional seed to win the MCWS. Their 31 losses are also the most for a national champion.
| Men's College World Series champions 1999-2008. |
Fresno State overcame the slow start to their season and put everything together in the postseason, which included winning the Western Athletic Conference just to gain access to the championship and surviving six elimination games en route to the school’s first national championship in a men’s sport.
Steve Detwiler had a performance for the ages in the third game of the championship series by driving in all six of his team’s runs in a 6-1 victory over national runner-up Georgia.
The Fresno State right fielder, who will need to undergo surgery to prepare a torn ligament in the left thumb he injured on May 6, was 4-for-4 with two home runs and a double in the winner-take-all contest.
Appropriately, Detwiler caught the last out of the game to set of Fresno State’s celebration.
“I won't be able to swing a bat for the next 12 weeks, but this was all worth it,” Detwiler said. “I just gripped it harder. I knew I didn't have much strength [in his hand], but if I swung it a little harder I'd be all right.”
The coaching staff and his teammates were very appreciative of his sacrifice for playing in pain.
“That's a kid who has been playing for us for the last two months with one thumb,” said Fresno State coach Mike Batesole, whose team tied a MCWS record by scoring 62 runs (USC 1998) in Omaha. “And I mean one thumb. The other one hangs down to his wrist when he wants it to. He's just made of heart -- it's about all he has in him.”
Fresno State survived its first elimination game in the Long Beach regional when they rebounded from a 15-1 thumping by San Diego to win 5-1 to advance to the play No. 3 national seed Arizona State.
The Bulldogs lost the first game of the best-of-three super regional on the road, but rallied to defeat the Sun Devils 8-6 and 12-9 to punch a ticket to Omaha.
Their flight to the MCWS was rerouted when bad weather popped up.
“I'll admit I thought we were going down a couple of times on that plane ride here,” said Fresno State pitcher Jason Breckley. “But it just makes everything that much sweeter with what we were able to accomplish.”
Fresno State was in position to reach the championship series until North Carolina stunned them with a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning on June 21. The 4-3 loss forced Fresno State to play another elimination game, which they won 6-1.
Game 1 of the championship series saw Fresno State dealt another heartbreaking blow when a 6-3 lead turned into a 7-6 loss when Georgia score four run in the bottom of the eighth.
Georgia, 45-25-1, held a 5-0 lead going into the bottom of the third in Game 2. Over the next three innings, Fresno State turned that deficit into a 15-6 lead. It went on to win the game 19-10.
Junior pitcher Justin Wilson took the ball for Game 3 and delivered a strong, allowing only one run in eight innings.
Wilson, who struck out nine while walking only one, won three games in the NCAA tournament, including two in Omaha.
“I knew it was over when I saw the look in his eye in the first inning,” Batesole said. “There was no doubt in my mind that it was over. It really didn't matter who we were playing. He was going to get it done. I knew he was going to do everything he could to bring it home.”
Detwiler put the offense on his back, and the Bulldogs were on their way to making history.
Bulldogs third baseman Tommy Mendonca was named the most outstanding player of the MCWS hitting .276 with four home runs and 11 RBI. The four home runs tied a single-MCWS record.
Game 1
Stanford 16, Florida St. 5
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Stanford | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 16 | 15 | 1 |
| Florida St. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 11 | 3 |
Jeremy Bleich, Erik Davis (6), Drew Storen (7), Michael Marshall (9) and Jason Castro; Matt Fairel, Ryan Strauss (6), Jimmy Marshall (7), John Gast (7), Buster Posey (9), Ben Francis (9), Bo O'Dell (9) and Buster Posey, Parker Brunelle (9). W -- Storen. L – Gast. HR – Tobey Gerhart (S); Brent Milleville (S); Jason Stidham (FS); Dennis Guinn (FS).
Game 2
Georgia 7, Miami (Fla.) 4
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Georgia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 1 |
| Miami (Fla.) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 1 |
Trevor Holder, Alex McRee (5), Dean Weaver (7), Joshua Fields (8) and Bryce Massanari; Chris Hernandez, Kyle Bellamy (7), Carlos Gutierrez (9) and Yasmani Grandal. W – Fields. L – Guitierrez. HR – Ryan Peisel (G); Blake Tekotte (M); Jemile Weeks (M); Yonder Alonso (M).
Game 3
Fresno St. 17, Rice 5
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Fresno St. | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 17 | 13 | 2 |
| Rice | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 1 |
Justin Wilson, Sean Bonesteele (8) and Ryan Overland; Ryan Berry, Matt Evers (4), Bryan Price (4), Lucas Luetge (5), Matt Langwell (6), Bobby Bell (8), Cole St.Clair (9) and John Hale. W – Wilson. L – Berry. HR – Danny Muno (FS); Alan Ahmady (FS); Tommy Mendonca (FS); Jordan Ribera (FS); Diego Seastrunk (R).
Game 4
North Carolina 8, LSU 4
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| LSU | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 1 |
| North Carolina | 3 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | X | 8 | 17 | 1 |
Ryan Verdugo, Paul Bertuccini (4), Louis Coleman (5), Blake Martin (7), Jordan Brown (7), Anthony Ranaudo (8) and Micah Gibbs; Alex White, Brian Moran (8), Rob Wooten (8) and Tim Federowicz. W – White. L – Verdugo. S – Wooten. HR – Michael Hollander (L); Matt Clark (L).
Game 5
Miami (Fla.) 7, Florida St. 5
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Florida St. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 5 | 18 | 0 |
| Miami | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | X | 7 | 11 | 2 |
Elih Villanueva, Ryan Strauss (4), John Gast (7), Geoff Parker (8) and Buster Posey; David Gutierrez, Eric Erickson (2), Kyle Bellamy (7), Carlos Gutierrez (9) and Yasmani Grandal. W – Erickson. L – Villanueva. HR – Blake Tekotte (M); Jemile Weeks (M).
Game 6
Georgia 4, Stanford 3
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Stanford | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 0 |
| Georgia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | X | 4 | 9 | 0 |
Jeffrey Inman, Austin Yount (6), Michael Marshall (8) and Jason Castro; Nick Montgomery, Stephen Dodson (4), Alex McRee (7), Joshua Fields (9) and Jake Crane. W – McRee. L – Yount. S – Fields. HR – Jason Castro (S).
Game 7
LSU 6, Rice 5
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Rice | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 10 | 3 |
| LSU | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 11 | 0 |
Chris Kelley, Cole St.Clair (6) and Adam Zornes; Jared Bradford, Paul Bertuccini (7), Louis Coleman (8) and Micah Gibbs. W – Coleman. L – St. Clair. HR -- Aaron Luna (R).
Game 8
Fresno St. 5, North Carolina 3
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| North Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 11 | 1 |
| Fresno St. | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | X | 5 | 13 | 1 |
Adam Warren, Brian Moran (5), Rob Wooten (5) and Tim Federowicz; Justin Miller, Kris Tomlinson (5), Jason Breckley (5), Holden Sprague (6), Brandon Burke (8) and Ryan Overland. W – Breckley. L – Warren. S – Burke. HR -- Steve Susdorf (FS); Ryan Overland (FS).
Game 9
Stanford 8, Miami (Fla.) 3
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Miami | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 9 | 2 |
| Stanford | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | X | 8 | 11 | 0 |
Enrique Garcia, Anthony Nalepa (5), Iden Nazario (6), Rene Guerra (6) and Yasmani Grandal; Danny Sandbrink, Erik Davis (5), Drew Storen (9) and Jason Castro. W – Davis. L – Garcia. HR -- Yasmani Grandal (M); Sean Ratliff (S).
Game 10
North Carolina 7, LSU 3
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| North Carolina | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 7 | 9 | 2 |
| LSU | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 4 | 0 |
Matt Harvey, Colin Bates (3), Brian Moran (5), Rob Wooten (7), Alex White (8) and Tim Federowicz; Blake Martin, Jared Bradford (1), Louis Coleman (7) and Micah Gibbs. W – White. L – Coleman. HR -- Tim Federowicz (NC); Matt Clark (LSU).
Game 11
Georgia 10, Stanford 8
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Georgia | 0 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 | 15 | 2 |
| Stanford | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 8 | 11 | 0 |
Nathan Moreau, Dean Weaver (3), Alex McRee (7), Joshua Fields (9) and Jake Crane; Jeremy Bleich, Drew Storen (4), Austin Yount (6), David Stringer (9) and Jason Castro. W – Weaver. L – Bleich. HR -- Ryan Peisel (G); Ben Clowe (S).
Game 12
North Carolina 4, Fresno St. 3
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Fresno St. | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| North Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | X | 4 | 8 | 0 |
Justin Wilson, Holden Sprague (6), Kris Tomlinson (7), Justin Miller (8) and Ryan Overland; Matt Harvey, Rob Wooten (6), Brian Moran (7), Alex White (7) and Tim Federowicz. W – White. L – Miller. HR -- Tommy Mendonca (FS); Chad Flack (NC).
Game 13
Fresno St. 6, North Carolina 1
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| North Carolina | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 | 1 |
| Fresno St. | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | X | 6 | 10 | 0 |
Adam Warren, Brian Moran (2), Colin Bates (4), Rob Wooten (5), Alex White (5), Rob Catapano (7), Tyler Trice (8) and Tim Federowicz; Clayton Allison, Holden Sprague (7), Brandon Burke (8) and Ryan Overland. W – Allison. L – Moran.
Championship series
Game 1
Georgia 7, Fresno St. 6
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Fresno St. | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 7 | 0 |
| Georgia | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | X | 7 | 10 | 1 |
Sean Bonesteele, Jake Floethe (4), Kris Tomlinson (4), Jason Breckley (6), Brandon Burke (8) and Ryan Overland; Trevor Holder, Alex McRee (8), Justin Earls (8), Will Harvil (8), Joshua Fields(9) and Bryce Massanari. W – Harvil. L – Burke. S – Fields. HR -- Tommy Mendonca (FS); Steve Detwiler (FS); Jordan Ribera (FS); Gordon Beckham (G).
Game 2
Fresno St. 19, Georgia 10
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E | |
| Georgia | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 16 | 0 |
| Fresno St. | 0 | 0 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 1 | X | 19 | 19 | 2 |
Nick Montgomery, Stephen Dodson (3), Will Harvil (4), Justin Grimm (6), Justin Earls (7), Steve Esmonde (8), Jason Leaver (8) and Jake Crane; Justin Miller, Holden Sprague (3), Jake Hower (7) and Ryan Overland. W – Sprague. L – Dodson. HR -- Steve Susdorf (FS); Tommy Mendonca (FS).
Game 3
Fresno St. 6, Georgia 1
| Fresno St. | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PO | A |
| Danny Muno, ss | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Gavin Hedstrom, cf | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Erik Wetzel, 2b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Steve Sudsdorf, lf | 2 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Alan Ahmady, 1b | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| Steve Detwiler, rf | 4 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| Tommy Mendonca, 3b | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 |
| Jake Johnson, dh | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jordan Ribera, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nick Hom, ph | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Trent Soares, pr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Danny Grubb, c | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Justin Wilson, p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Clayton Allison, p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Brandon Burke, p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 35 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 27 | 6 |
| Georgia | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | PO | A |
| Ryan Peisel, 3b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Matt Olson, rf | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| Gordon Beckham, ss | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| Rich Poythress, 1b | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 1 |
| Bryce Massanari, dh | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Matt Cerione, cf | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Joey Lewis, c | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 1 |
| Lyle Allen, lf | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Robbie O’Bryan, ph | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Adam Fuller, pr | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Miles Starr, 2b | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| David Thoms, ph | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nathan Moreau, p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dean Weaver, p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| Alex McRee, p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| Joshua Fields, p | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | 35 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 3 | 9 | 27 | 11 |
| Score by innings | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | R | H | E |
| Fresno St. | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 8 | 4 |
| Georgia | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6 | 2 |
E – Muno 3; Detwiler; Poythress; Lewis. DP – Fresno St. 1. LOB – Fresno St. 5; Georgia 10. 2B – Susdorf; Detwiler. 3B – Lewis. HR – Detwiler 2; Beckham. SB – Soares. CS – Hedstrom.
| Fresno St. | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | AB | BF |
| Justin Wilson | 8.0 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 32 | 33 |
| Clayton Allison | 0.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| Brandon Burke | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| Georgia | IP | H | R | ER | BB | SO | AB | BF |
| Nathan Moreau | 5.0 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 18 | 19 |
| Dean Weaver | 2.2 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 14 |
| Alex McRee | 1.0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| Joshua Fields | 0.1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
W – Wilson. L – Moreau. WP – Wilson; Moreau. HBP – by Weaver (Susdorf). Time – 2:56. A – 18,932.