Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
Rice
Bulldogs Pound No. 5 Rice 17-5
6/15/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 15, 2008
Box Score | College World Series Game 1 
OMAHA - An offensive explosion of 11 runs by the fourth inning, 13 hits and four homeruns vaulted the Fresno State Bulldogs to a 17-5 win over No.6 National seed Rice in the opening round of the College World Series.
Rice (47-14) is ranked No. 5 ranked in the nation and the Bulldogs have now six wins over teams ranked in the top 11 nationally in their last eight games. Fresno State improved to 6-2 at the NCAA tournament.
The 17 runs were the most allowed by the Owls all season and second most by the Dogs this year. Fresno State beat New Mexico State 24-6 April 20.
"We played aggressive today," said head coach Mike Batesole, who was named the 2008 National Coach of the Year. "The last thing we wanted to do was to sit back and let the game come to us. Justin (Wilson) pitched great and threw strikes. It was a great battle. We didn't give any at-bats away, and that's what it will take to keep this going. There's a good chance we'll see Rice and maybe even Ryan Berry again during this tournament."
Fresno State and Rice met for the 46th time. The two schools were WAC brethren from 1999-2005, when the Owls departed for Conference USA. As members of the WAC, rice won the 2003 College World Series and have been to the CWS each of the last three seasons.
Rice had been in the NCAA tournament for 14 straight years, the fourth-longest streak in the nation.
"It was not exactly what we hoped for," said legendary Rice coach Wayne Graham. "Fresno State did an incredible job hitting the ball. It's hard to hit the ball that hard in batting practice."
Left-handed pitcher Justin Wilson, who had a career-high 11 strikeout performance against No. 11 Long Beach State in the first game of the Long Beach Regional, earned the start for the Bulldogs. Wilson, a graduate of Clovis' Buchanan High School, took a 7-5 record and 4.51 ERA into the game. He was drafted in the fifth round by the Pittsburgh Pirates on the first day of the MLB draft.
The Owls' Ryan Berry (8-4, 3.31 ERA) threw for Rice, the Conference USA regular season championship. He led the team with 85 strikeouts on the season and threw more than 100 innings for the Owls.
The Owls did not lose in the NCAA tournament leading into the College World Series, sweeping the Houston Regional with wins Sam Houston State, St. Johns and Texas and Houston Super Regional by beat Texas A&M. The Owls came into the series with 15 wins in the last 17 games. The only two losses were the first two games of the Conference USA tournament, when Rice was ousted.
The Bulldogs jumped on the Owls early with four runs in the top of the second inning. First baseman Alan Ahmady drew a walk to start the inning and stole second base with one out. Catcher Ryan Overland walked before right fielder Steve Dewiler reached on an error by the second baseman.
Shorstop Danny Muno then drove in two runs on a 3-2 count with a single up the middle, bringing Ahmady and Overland home while Detwiler, who was running on the pitch, moved all the way to third base. For Muno, Fresno State's leadoff batter, those were his 23rd and 24th RBIs of the season.
Centerfielder Gavin Hedstrom then drilled a double down the left field line to drive in Detwiler and Muno. Muno scored on a close play at the plate as he made a great slide and knocked the ball from the catcher's mitt to give the Bulldogs a 4-0 lead. Hedstrom has eight RBIs in the last three games with a double and a grand slam homerun against No. 3 Arizona State in last weekend's Super Regional.
Overland pulled a single to right field. Designated hitter Jordan Ribera singled to centerfield, moving Overland to second base.
Muno continued his magic with a three-run homerun over the right field fence, his third of the season, to drive in Overland and Ribera.
The smallest player on the team, Muno was the WAC Freshman of the Year and is projected to make the Freshman All-America teams that will be announced later this month. That gave Muno five RBIs in the game, a career-high for him. He had four against Indiana earlier this season. The Bulldog led 7-0 at that point.
Hedstrom drew a walk and Wetzel jacked a double over the center fielder's head for his 37th RBI of the season to score Hedstrom. That hit chased Berry from the game, who was replaced by Matt Evers (4-1, 2.61 ERA).
He hit the first Bulldog he faced, WAC Player of the Year Steve Susdorf, on the right shoulder.
The next batter, Alan Ahmady, hit his 13th homerun of the season to give the Bulldogs an 11-0 lead. Ahmady has six RBIs in the last four games and leads the squad with 87 on the season, second-most in Bulldog history.
Rice made another pitching change, the second of the inning, as Brian Price (4-4, 3.66 ERA) came in. After allowing a walk to Overland, his second time on base in the inning, he got the final two out to end the Bulldog's inning. The Bulldogs finished the inning with seven runs and improved their lead to 11-0.
In the bottom of the inning Rice loaded the bases with two outs, but Wilson got the Owls to fly out to centerfield to end the inning.
The Owls scored their first run in the bottom of the fifth inning with a single, double and a sacfifice fly. The double came off the glove of Susdorf in left field. He chased down the ball near the foul line in the corner and stretched for the ball, but the baseball grazed his mitt. Wilson struck out the final two batters to get out of the inning leaving two Owl runners on base. The Dogs led 11-1 heading into the sixth winning.
Wetzel walked to lead off the sixth inning. Rice brought its fourth pitcher into the game, Lucas Luetge (1-0, 5.70 ERA), to face Susdorf. Luetge airmailed a wild pitch that allowed Wetzel to advance to second base. Ahmady singled to center and Wetzel advanced to third base. Overland walked to load the bases for Detwiler, who after a pitching change, Matt Langwell (5-1, 4.35 ERA), singled up the middle for two RBIs, driving in Wetzel and Ahmady. It was the sixth and seventh RBI of the NCAA tournament for Detwiler.
The next batter, Ribera, homered to straight away center field, over the 408 foot sign, to drive in three runs and make the score 16-1. It was Ribera's fourth homerun of the season and Fresno State's third of the game.
Wilson continued to battle on the mound for the Bulldogs. He allowed one run in the sixth inning and allowed four base runners, but got a double play and a ground out to end a rally threat by Rice.
Tommy Mendonca added to the Bulldog lead in the seventh inning when he hit a homerun to the opposite field. It was his 16th homerun of the season, seventh-most in a season in Bulldog history. Fresno State led Rice 17-2 after that.
The Owls did have a three-run homerun in the eighth inning.
Sean Bonesteele replaced Wilson in the eighth inning and finished the game for the Dogs.
Wilson finished the game allowing just two runs and eight hits.
The 17 runs scored by Fresno State are the most runs scored in a MCWS since Miami (Fla.) scored 21 in a first round victory over Tennessee in 2001.
The Bulldogs will have Monday off and returns to action on Tuesday at 4 p.m. PT against No. 2 national seed North Carolina on ESPN2.
The crowd at Omaha's Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium was 18,108, the largest to ever watch a Bulldog game. Omaha has been the home of the College World Series since 1950, and baseball fans from all over America make an annual pilgrimage each June for this event.
Nearly 1,000 members of the media are in Omaha to cover the event and all of the game will be televised by ESPN/ESPN2.
2008 College World Series Results and Schedule
Saturday, June 14
Stanford 16, No. 4 Florida State 5
Georgia 7, No. 1 Miami (Fla.) 4
Sunday, June 15
Fresno State 17, No. 6 Rice 5
No. 2 North Carolina 8, No. 7 LSU 4
Monday, June 16
No. 1 Miami (Fla.) vs. No. 4 Florida State (loser eliminated), 11 a.m. PT
No. 8 Georgia vs. Stanford, 4 p.m. PT
Join the State - Fresno State! The Bulldog baseball team continues play in the College World Series Monday at 4 p.m. PT against No. 2 North Carolina. All Fresno State games from the CWS can be heard in the Valley on KMJ Radio and seen nationally on ESPN/ESPN2.
