Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State
North Carolina
No. 2 Tar Heels Edge Dogs
6/21/2008 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
June 21, 2008
Box Score | College World Sereis, Game 3 
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.
The two teams will meet again Sunday afternoon at 4 p.m. PT to determine which will play Georgia in the College World Series championship series. The loss was the first for the Bulldogs, who entered the game with a 2-0 record. The Tar Heels are 3-1 in the tournament and improved to 54-13 overall.
The Bulldogs joined Georgia, Stanford and North Carolina on the NCAA's "final four" of College baseball. Georia eliminated Stanford with a 10-8 Saturday afternoon to advance to the CWS Championship series.
Prior to Saturday's game, the Bulldog played just two games in eight days of the College World Series. Fresno State was scheduled to play Friday night, but a severe thunderstorm hit Omaha Thursday night that forced the postponement of the North Carolina vs. LSU game. The Tar Heels won that contest Friday 7-3 on a ninth-inning grand slam homerun.
Saturday night's games was delayed almost an hour because of heavy rainfall while the teams were warming up. Once the storm clouds cleared Rosenblatt Stadium, a nice crowd of 18,611 attended the game for a cool (65 degrees) but beautiful evening in eastern Nebraska. More than 250,000 fans have attended the 2008 College World Series, including a record crowd of more than 30,000 for LSU vs. North Carolina game Friday night. That was the second-largest crowd in college baseball history.
"This was really a classic college baseball game," said head coach Mike Batesole, who was named the 2008 National Coach of the Year prior to the start of the CWS. "It had everything you want. There were two good teams playing with a lot on the line...a lot to play for. Both teams made big plays, got some great defensive plays out there, and the pitching was very good. I liked the way our pitchers attacked the mitt tonight. We went at the No. 2 team in the country and some nights you are going to come up short against a great team like that. The good news is we put ourselves in this position to be able to play them again tomorrow."
North Carolina is ranked No. 2, one of three teams in the College World Series with more than 50 wins and one of the three from the Atlantic Coast Conference. No. 1 Miami (Fla.) and No. 4 Florida State were the other two. The Hurricanes and Seminoles were eliminated earlier in the week.
Junior pitcher Justin Wilson (8-5, 4.39 ERA), a fifth-round draft choice of the Pittsburgh Pirates started for the Dogs. Wilson beat Rice in Fresno State's CWS opening game on Sunday in his classic fashion by competing and battling the Owls deep in the count.
The Tar Heels' Matt Harvey (7-2, 2.59 ERA) threw for North Carolina for the second straight night. Coming into the game, he had 75 strikeouts in less than 63 innings pitched.
North Carolina has reached the championship round of the College World Series each of the last two seasons, falling to Oregon State in 2006 and 2007.
Shortstop Danny Muno, the WAC Freshman of the Year, walked to start the game as the Dogs were the visiting team. Muno had reached base on all five of his plate appearances against the Tar Heels on Tuesday.
Centerfielder Gavin Hedstrom grounded into a fielder's choice that forced Muno out at second. All-WAC second baseman Erik Wetzel singled to right field, moving Hedstrom to second base. Left fielder Steve Susdorf, the WAC Player of the Year and Bulldog career RBI leader, did what he does best and drove in the first run of the game with a single to right field.
Hedstrom, running aggressively as the Dogs have the entire tournament, slid into home plate ahead of the tag for the first run of the game in the top of the first inning. It was third Fresno State run of the College World Series that was contested at home plate.
It was the 213th RBI of Susdorf's career.
Wilson walked four Tar Heels before getting through the line-up once in the first two innings. But he ended the first inning with a big strikeout on a 3-2 count and the second by serving up a double play ball to Wetzel.
Wilson didn't allow a hit until UNC first baseman Dustin Ackley reached base on an infield single in the third inning. Ackley entered the game hitting .413 on the season, best on the Tar Heel squad.
With two runners on base and one out, Federowicz popped up to Bulldog first baseman Alan Ahmady, who made a terrific sliding catch on the base of the stadium wall, and jumped to his feet and threw out Ackley who had tagged and was attempting to advance to third base. Tommy Mendonca easily tagged Ackley for the out that ended the inning. That play was so amazing it was ranked No. 1 on ESPN SportsCenter's play of the day list.
Ahmady got a two-out single in the top of the fourth inning and Mendonca hammered the first pitch from Harvey into the right field bleachers for his 17th homerun of the season and giving the Bulldogs a 3-0 lead. It was his second hit of the college College World Series, both were homeruns.
The Bulldogs lead all CWS teams with seven homeruns.
Ahmady, one of the national RBI leaders in 2008, had two of Fresno State's seven hits in the game.
North Carolina answered in the bottom of the fourth inning with two singles, a double and a walk and scored its first runs to cut the lead Bulldog lead to 3-2. Wilson worked out of a tough jam with a strikeout to end the inning with two Tar Heel runners on base.
Rob Wooten (6-2, 1.76 ERA) replaced Harvey on the mound in the sixth inning for the Tar Heels. Harvey gave up five hits and three runs, all earned, and threw 83 pitches for UNC.
After allowing a walk to Susdorf and a single to Ahmady, he got out of the inning with a strikeout.
After getting one out in the sixth inning, Wilson was relieved by Holden Sprague (5-2, 3.50 ERA). Sprague was solid in his last outing against the Tar Heels in Fresno State's victory in the second game of the CWS. Wilson allowed just two earned runs and five hits through 5 1/3 innings.
Right fielder Steve Detwiler doubled to left field with one out in the top of the seventh inning for the Bulldogs. DH Jordan Ribera drew a walk and was replaced by speedy Trent Soares at first base.
After a 2-0 count to leadoff man Muno, North Carolina coach Mike Fox brought his third pitcher into the game, left-handed pitcher Brian Moran (1-1, 2.46 ERA) with two saves replaced Wooten. Moran has 72 strikeouts in 47 innings this season. His first pitch was a passed ball that allowed booth runners to advance.
Muno was them intentionally walked to load the bases and Fox made another pitching change after just two pitches with Alex White (12-3, 2.77 ERA).
White is normally a starter, but his limited work from the bullpen is impressive with no runs allowed in seven innings. He got the last two outs of the inning as the Dogs left the bases loaded.
After getting one out in the seventh inning, Kris Tomlinson replaced Sprague. Tomlinson has been one of Fresno State's most efficient pitchers in the post season, earning a win in the Super Regional clinching win at Arizona State and not allowing a hit in his two appearances. He caught Tar Heel right fielder Tim Federoff looking at a breaking ball for a big strikeout against the talented No. 3 Tar Heel batter.
Justin Miller (6-3, 4.97 ERA), Fresno State's starting pitcher against North Carolina Tuesday, came in to face clean-up man Federowicz. He hit the game-winning grand slam against LSU to oust the Tigers from the tournament. Miller struck him out on five pitches to end the inning.
The Tar Heels took the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning on a full count pitch when Rob Flack hit a two-run homerun to give his team a 4-3 lead, the eventual final score.
"We are still in good position to reach the championship," said Susdorf after the game. "Both teams are going to come out and play to move on. We have a lot to play for and we will come out and play to win."
Fresno State will play North Carolina again Sunday at 4 p.m. PT. The game will be shown live on ESPN Classic.
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.) 7, No. 4 Florida State 5 (FSU Eliminated)
No. 8 Georgia 4, Stanford 2
Tuesday, June 17
No. 7 LSU 6, No. 6 Rice 5 (Rice Eliminated)
Fresno State 5, No. 2 North Carolina 3
Wednesday, June 18
Stanford 8, Miami (Fla.) 4 (Miami Eliminated)
Friday, June 20
No. 2 North Carolina 7, No. 7 LSU 3 (LSU Eliminated)
Saturday, June 21
No. 8 Georgia 10, Stanford 8 (Georgia advanced to the CWS Championship series/Stanford is eliminated)
No. 2 North Carolina 4, Fresno State 3 (ESPN)
Sunday, June 22
No. 2 North Carolina vs. Fresno State, 4 p.m. (ESPN Classic)
Monday, June 23 (Championship Series - best of three)
No. 8 Georgia vs. Fresno State or No. 2 North Carolina, 4 p.m. (ESPN)
Bulldog Shop Has CWS Gear
Fans can become a part of the College World Series experience by getting their Bulldog baseball gear at the Bulldog Shop on the corner of Cedar and Barstow across the street from Fresno State's campus. The Bulldog Shop has the officially licensed "WonderDOGS" Tee Shirts, a nickname bestowed on the team when it arrived in Omaha.
Join the State - Fresno State! The Bulldog baseball team continues play in the College World Series Sunday at 4 p.m. PT against Carolina. All Fresno State games from the CWS can be heard in the Valley on KMJ Radio and seen nationally on one of the ESPN family of networks. Sunday's game will be available on ESPN Classic.
