The Red and Black

Issue date: 6/26/08 Section: Sports

BECKHAM

COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
FRESNO STATE 6, GEORGIA 1


OMAHA, Neb. - Cinderella finally found her glass slipper Wednesday night.

After losing Game 1 of the College World Series Championship Series to Georgia, Fresno State took Games 2 and 3 to become the most unlikely champion in CWS history.

And after winning its first four games in Omaha, Georgia fell short in two straight to go home ring-less.

"True champions," Georgia head coach David Perno said of Fresno State's 6-1 win Wednesday. "They did it the hard way."

Down 6-3 in Game 1, Georgia rallied behind an eighth-inning home run by All-American shortstop Gordon Beckham and a game-winning hit by Joey Lewis. But Fresno State responded in Game 2, a 19-10 rout.

After Fresno State pitched largely by committee in the first two games, Game 3 meant it had No. 1 starter Justin Wilson back on three days rest. He dominated the Athens version of the Bulldogs, striking out nine and allowing only one run and five hits over eight innings, the longest outing for any pitcher in Omaha.

"It was over when I saw the look in his eye in the first inning," Fresno State head coach Mike Batesole said of his pitcher. "There was no doubt in my mind it was over. It didn't matter who we were playing against."

Fresno State right fielder Steve Detwiler, a .259 hitter coming into Omaha, provided all the offense the "Wonderdogs" needed. His two-run shot in the second put Fresno State on the board, he added an RBI double in the fourth, while his three-run homer in the sixth was the final dagger in Georgia's season.

It gave Fresno State just its second national championship ever, in any sport. Just four games over .500 in mid-May, Fresno State rallied for a Western Athletic Conference championship and beat the nation's best teams (Rice, North Carolina twice) en route to becoming the lowest seeded team to even make it to the championship series. Either set of Bulldogs would have had the most losses ever for a national champion, but the California edition took the cake with 31.

The team outscored Georgia 25-11 over the final two games, but it was the similarities between the two teams that had Georgia's attention even before the series.

"It seemed like they were exactly like us, and that's what scared me coming in here," Georgia senior Ryan Peisel said. "And the other thing that scared me is they swing meat sticks."

"They're scrappy, they play hard and they played better than us tonight," Beckham said. "Maybe we win the next game, who knows, but there isn't a next game."

Georgia starter Nathan Moreau had a solid outing, going five innings and facing the minimum in three of those frames. But Detwiler got to him in the other two before he took reliever Dean Weaver deep with two outs in the sixth.

Beckham provided the lone offensive bright spot for Georgia (45-25-1). His solo shot in the eighth gave him 28 on the season, tying him with LSU's Matt Clark for the NCAA lead.

Even with many pundits picking them to finish fourth or fifth in the SEC East in the preseason, Georgia said all season that its aim was to win a national championship.

Coming just short of a national title after a dismal 23-33 season in 2007, needless to say, was bittersweet.

"It's a lonely place," Perno said.


BOX SCORE
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

WP - Wilson (9-5)
LP - Moreau (4-4)
HR - Detwiler, 2 (11,12)

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