Jun 23, 2008 - 11:30 PM
0 shoutsOMAHA, Nebraska (Ticker) -- Fresno State has been the ultimate Cinderella squad throughout the College World Series by becoming the first No. 4 regional seed to play for the national title and the only 30-loss squad in history to reach the championship round. However, midnight may strike Tuesday.
First-round draft picks Gordon Beckham and Josh Fields performed late-game heroics and helped No. 8 Georgia stun Fresno State, 7-6, on Monday in the opener of a best-of-three set at the College World Series.
"That was just a great college baseball game. It's what you'd expect in a national championship series," Georgia coach Dave Perno. "Fortunately, we have Beckham and Fields in our dugout because in big games great players step up."
Beckham, the Southeast Conference Player of the Year and the eighth overall pick in this year's draft by the Chicago White Sox, jump-started a four-run bottom of the eighth by launching a two-run homer off reliever Brandon Burke to cut the deficit to 6-5.
"He's a pretty special player," Perno said. "He's called a bunch of shots throughout his career. A couple of guys have been on him about when he would hit his next home run and he said, 'When we need it the most.' He delivered."
Rich Poythress followed with a walk and Matt Cerione hit a one-out triple to tie the game for Georgia. Joey Lewis then doubled up the middle to score the go-ahead run and give Georgia a chance to clinch the NCAA title with a win Tuesday and deny Fresno State its first national championship.
"My home run jump-started us, but it was Cerione, Lewis and Poythress who really stepped up tonight. I can't say enough about the job those three guys did tonight," Beckham said. "I'm very proud of them."
Georgia's winning rally came in response to Fresno's three-run eruption in the top of the inning that forged a 6-3 lead.
Fields, the 20th overall pick by the Seattle Mariners, threw a perfect ninth to earn his 18th save and squash any hope of a Fresno State comeback.
Until the bottom of the eighth, Fresno State played more like the team that beat five ranked powerhouses to get to the title series.
In the top of the eighth, Erik Wetzel led off with a walk to set up Steve Susdorf's RBI double to give Fresno State a 4-3 lead. After Alan Ahmady hit a line drive to Beckham, who doubled Susdorf off at second base, Tommy Mendoca blasted his 18th homer of the season to extend Fresno State's lead to 5-3.
Steve Detwiler was 2-for-4 with three RBI - including a two-run home run to erase Georgia's 2-1 lead in the fifth - and plated Ryan Overland with a double to round out Fresno State's three-run inning against relievers Alex McRee and Justin Earls.
Georgia tied the game, 3-3, in the sixth on Cerione's RBI single.
Fresno State's first four pitchers had ERAs over 6.30, but held Georgia in check until Burke surrendered three runs, including Beckham's blast, to lose the game.
"That was a good college baseball game there," Fresno State coach Mike Batesole said. "I think if you told me we'd hold that offense to seven with the arms we had, I'd take it. Give them a lot of credit. I knew with the arms we had, we wouldn't strike out many, but I thought we'd have more strikeouts than one. Give them credit. They did a good job."
Georgia starter Trevor Holder threw seven innings, allowing three runs and four hits. Will Harvil got the final out of the eighth inning and notched the win.
"We've been in it in the regional, Super Regional and here," Mendoca said of Fresno State's chances with its back to the wall. "We just have to go out there and play. We'll walk out there with our heads up."
