Our good buddy Eric Sorenson of CSTV checks in with his final Extra Innings column wrapping up the 2008 postseason. He talks about the future of CSTV/CBS College Sports and how Fresno State winning the 2008 CWS is not the biggest upset in sports history. I tend to agree with him. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM EASTON SPORTS
VAN NUYS, Calif. (June 26, 2008) - Easton Sports, the leading manufacturer of sporting goods equipment, once again demonstrated its dominance in college baseball Wednesday at the College World Series® as Fresno State became the 20th champion in the last 29 years to win a title swinging Easton baseball bats exclusively. The Bulldogs also became the lowest seeded NCAA team to capture a Division I crown ever, completing a daunting postseason run for the history books. Read the rest of this entry »

Fresno State completed the most improbable run in recent college sports history as they became the lowest seed ever to win a national championship defeating the Georgia Bulldogs 6-1 on Wednesday night at Rosenblatt Stadium. The night belonged to Steve Detwiler who had a career night in the championship game going 4-4, driving in all six Fresno State runs and setting College World Series records for the most home runs in a championship game with two, most home runs in a championship series with three, most RBIs in a championship game with six, most RBIs in a championship series with nine, most extra base hits in a championship game, most bases in a championship game with 11 and in a fitting end to the game he caught the final out for Fresno State.

Fresno State scored two runs in the top of the second inning off of a two run blast by Steve Detwiler. Detwiler drove in the third run of the game in the top of the fourth with a double that scored Steve Susdorf and the Detwiler continued his one man onslaught with a three run blast in the top of the sixth and then capped off his night with a single in the top of the eighth.

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Good friends of The College Baseball Blog in Eric Sorensen of CBS College Sports (Formerly CSTV) and Doug Kroll of NCAA.com have put out a video previewing the winner take all game that will take place tonight.

One night after blowing a three run eighth inning lead Fresno State found themselves down 5-0 after just two and a half innings and in desperate need of something special if they were to stay alive in the championship series. Something special is what they got. The Bulldogs rallied for six runs in the bottom of the third inning followed by five runs in the bottom of the fourth and four more in the bottom of the fifth a total of 14 runs in the span of three innings.

The Bulldogs who batted around in both the third and fourth innings suddenly found themselves up by nine runs. Georgia tried to mount a comeback as they scored four runs in the top of the seventh inning to pull to within five at 15-10 but Fresno State answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning and one more in the bottom of the eighth to stretch the lead back out to nine runs.

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The Georgia Bulldogs tagged Fresno State closer Brandon Burke for four runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to stun the west coast Bulldogs in game one of the best of three series. Fresno State had just plated three runs in the top of the inning to take a 6-3 lead.

With their starting pitching used up the Fresno State Bulldogs turned to Sean Bonesteele for the start. Bonesteele pitched three innings and gave up just one run before turning the ball over to the rest of the Fresno State bullpen. Jake Floethe, Kris Tomlinson and Jason Breckley combined to pitch the next six innings giving up just two more runs as Fresno State turned to their closer Bradon Burke with a three run lead heading into the bottom of the eighth.

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Fresno State defeated North Carolina 6-1 to secure their spot in the championship series of the 2008 College World Series. After falling 4-3 to the Tar Heels on Saturday night on a go ahead two run home run in the bottom of the eighth inning by UNC’s Chad Flack the Bulldogs bounced back to bounce out the Tar Heels giving up only one run.

For the third straight game against North Carolina, Fresno State jumped on the board first in the bottom of the third inning on a two RBI single by third baseman Tommy Mendonca. UNC cut the lead in half at 2-1 when Kyle Shelton drew a bases loaded walk with one out however, the Tar Heels weren’t able to bring any more runs across the plate.

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The Georgia Bulldogs survived a late Stanford rally in the ninth inning to pick up a 10-8 victory to clinch a spot in the CWS Championship Series. In the other game, North Carolina defeated Fresno State 4-3 to set up a winner take all game on Sunday. The recaps from the games on June 21st are below.

Georgia 10 Stanford 8
North Carolina 4 Fresno State 3

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
OMAHA - The drama the College World Series got even better Saturday night at Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium.

The Fresno State Bulldogs, the Cinderella story of this year’s NCAA baseball tournament, went to the wire against the No. 2 team in the nation in a classic baseball game that featured great defensive plays, solid and smart pitching and timely hits. Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, North Carolina came away with a 4-3 victory. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
OMAHA, Neb. — The seventh-seeded LSU baseball team saw its remarkable season come to an end on Friday night as second-seeded North Carolina eliminated the Tigers from the 2008 NCAA College World Series on a ninth-inning grand slam by catcher Tim Federowicz that gave the Tar Heels a 7-3 win at Rosenblatt Stadium.

LSU concluded the year with a 49-19-1 record and the most wins since the 2000 team won 52 games. The Tigers, who once held a 6-11-1 record in Southeastern Conference play, completed one of the most incredible turnarounds in league history that saw the squad win the SEC Western Division, the SEC Tournament, the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional and the NCAA Baton Rouge Super Regional. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
OMAHA, Neb. - Due to lightning and heavy rains in the Omaha area, Thursday’s College World Series elimination contest between North Carolina and LSU was suspended with the Tar Heels holding a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning. The game will be resumed at 7:08 p.m. Eastern Friday on ESPN.

The contest was halted at 6:27 p.m. local time and was suspended at 9:32 p.m. after a delay of more than three hours. Read the rest of this entry »

FROM CBB NEWS SOURCE
OMAHA, Neb. – After allowing two hits to the first two hitters of the game, Stanford pitchers did not allow another hit until the sixth inning and the Cardinal picked up an 8-3 victory over Miami (Fla.) in an elimination game Tuesday at the Men’s College World Series.

Stanford (41-23-2) advances to play Georgia Friday at 1 p.m. The Miami season ends at 53-11 and marks the ninth-straight year that the top overall national seed will not win the national championship. Read the rest of this entry »

The College World Series continued on Tuesday with two games. LSU picked up a 6-5 victory over the Rice Owls with a three run double in the bottom of the ninth to keep the Tigers alive and end the Owls chances at a CWS title. Fresno State continued their dream season knocking off North Carolina 5-3 to move into the drivers seat in Bracket 2. Click on the links below for the full recaps of the games.

LSU 6 Rice 5 Recap
Fresno State 5 UNC 3 Recap

PHOTO COURTESY OF LSU MEDIA RELATIONS

The Fresno State Bulldogs kept their incredible run going knocking off the No. 2 national seed North Carolina 5-3 on Tuesday night at Rosenblatt Stadium. The Bulldogs are now 2-0 and are off until Friday and await the winner of the North Carolina/LSU elimination game in bracket two.

The Bulldogs got on the board first in the bottom of the second inning scoring a run to take a 1-0 lead. North Carolina came out in the top of the fourth inning and scored three runs to take a 3-1 lead. Fresno State answered with a home run by Steve Susdorf in the bottom of the inning to cut the Tar Heels’ lead to 3-2.

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The LSU late-inning magic continues as the Tigers, who were on the verge of elimination in the Super Regionals before rallying to earn a trip to Omaha, staved off elimination from the College World Series by scoring four runs in the bottom of the ninth to claim a 6-5 decision and send Rice home.

Rice did itself no favors, as pitcher Cole St. Clair hit Sean Ochinko on an 0-2 count, and an error by shortstop Rick Hague allowed the Tigers to load the bases. Blake Dean then knocked a 1-0 pitch to the left field wall, clearing the bases and giving LSU its first lead of the game, along with the victory. Read the rest of this entry »