’Dog eat ’Dog!

WAC champion Fresno State beats Georgia in a battle of Bulldogs to win the College World Series

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OMAHA, Neb. » Fresno State was smashing in its final performance as college baseball's team of destiny, winning a championship that would have been impossible to predict.

Fresno State beat Georgia 6-1 yesterday to capture its first College World Series baseball championship and become the lowest-seeded team to win an NCAA title in any sport.

Pitcher Justin Wilson allowed one run in eight innings and Steve Detwiler went 4-for-4, hit two home runs and drove in all six runs last night as the Bulldogs of California won their second straight game to claim the best-of-three championship series 2-1.

When Detwiler caught a line drive in right field to end the decisive third game at Rosenblatt Stadium, a Fresno State team that started the season 8-12 rushed to the pitcher's mound to celebrate. At 47-31, the Bulldogs had more losses than any other College World Series champion.

"When you play together as a team, anything can happen," Fresno State's Tommy Mendoca, the CWS Most Valuable Player, said in a televised interview with ESPN.

BULLDOGS AND ’BOWS National champion Fresno State took three of five games against Hawaii this season, including a win in the WAC tournament. March 20: lost to Hawaii 4-0 March 21: lost to Hawaii 2-0 March 22: beat Hawaii 5-0 and 4-2 May 24: beat Hawaii 11-4

Five weeks ago, Fresno State entered the Western Athletic Conference tournament with a 33-27 record and needed to capture the league crown to even land a spot in the 64-team national tournament. The Bulldogs received a No. 4 seed in their four-team regional, the equivalent of a team drawing a 13 to 16 seed in the men's basketball tournament.

The WAC champions upset sixth-ranked San Diego to win their regional and then stunned Arizona State on the road in a super regional. That victory made Fresno State the first regional fourth seed to advance to the final eight in Omaha since the national tournament expanded to 64 teams in 1999.

Fresno State knocked off Rice and then third-ranked North Carolina twice to reach the championship series.

The Bulldogs blew a 6-3 lead in the opening game of the final, as Georgia scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to rally for a 7-6 win. Fresno State rebounded in Game 2, routing Georgia 19-10 to force a decisive third game.

Last night, Detwiler staked Fresno State to a 2-0 lead when he homered in the second inning off Georgia's Nathan Moreau. Detwiler, playing with a torn ligament in his left thumb, also had a run-scoring double in the fourth inning and then hit a three-run homer in the sixth inning to put Fresno State up 6-0.

"I just got zoned in finally," said Detwiler, who started the tournament with two hits in his first 17 at-bats.

Detwiler said he didn't let his thumb injury hinder him.

"It's mind over matter," he said. "It's just a little pain. The pain is temporary. Pride is forever."

Seven players accounted for Fresno State's 14 homers in seven CWS games, the most since LSU and Southern California jacked a record 17 in 1998. No other CWS team had more than six homers.

Wilson held Georgia scoreless for seven innings before giving up a solo homer to Gordon Beckham leading off the eighth.

Closer Brandon Burke got the final three outs in the ninth inning, giving Fresno State its second national championship in any sport. The school also won a women's softball title in 1998.

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OMAHA, Neb. » Fresno State went from underdogs to "wonderdogs" on its way to a most unlikely national championship.

With Steve Detwiler providing all the offense Justin Wilson needed, the Bulldogs captured their first national championship in a men's sport with a 6-1 victory over Georgia in the decisive Game 3 of the College World Series finals.

Detwiler homered twice and drove in all six runs, and Wilson allowed five hits in eight innings to cap Fresno State's wild ride to a title.

CWS most outstanding player Tommy Mendonca said it's time to put the underdog talk to rest.

"From here on out, underdog does not mean anything," he said. "Write it down. Underdog does not mean anything. We showed anything can happen."

Fresno State was forecast to be a Top 25 team coming into the season, but the Bulldogs lost 12 of their first 20 games. They needed to win the Western Athletic Conference tournament just to make the NCAA field of 64, fought off elimination in regionals and super regionals, and became the first No. 4 regional seed to reach the CWS since the tournament expanded in 1999.

The Bulldogs (47-31) from California not only showed they belonged, they showed they were the best, even though no previous national champion had more losses. The national title was the second in school history. Fresno State won the 1998 women's softball title.

"They're a true champion, and they did it the hard way," Georgia coach David Perno said.

Fresno State knocked off No. 3 national seed Arizona State in the super regionals and beat No. 6 Rice and No. 2 North Carolina twice to get to the CWS finals. By the time the Bulldogs met up with Georgia, the No. 8 seed, in the best-of-three final round, the slogan "Underdogs to Wonderdogs" was being spotted on T-shirts and signs all over Rosenblatt Stadium.

"These guys beat the best," Fresno State coach Mike Batesole said, "and I guess that's what you have to do to win a national championship."

Miami, the No. 1 national seed, brought three first-round draft picks to Omaha and left after three games. Fresno State's highest draft pick was second-rounder Tanner Scheppers, and he missed the postseason with a shoulder injury.

"It goes to show you don't need that first-round draft pick on your team to win that national championship," left fielder Steve Susdorf said. "You need 25 guys. We were all committed to the team. No one was about himself."

Mendonca had all but wrapped up the most outstanding award before he stepped on the field yesterday. He tied a CWS record with four homers, drove in 11 runs and made a number of spectacular plays in the field.

But in the finale, Detwiler was the star.

"Everybody was having amazing at-bats and seeing the ball," he said. "I got lucky and capitalized on a few of them."

Playing with a torn ligament in his left thumb, he hit a two-run homer on Nathan Moreau's 3-2 pitch in the second inning that barely cleared the right-field fence, just getting over the glove of Matt Olson.

There was no doubt about Detwiler's second blast, a high drive that landed three-quarters of the way up the stands in left field. That three-run shot off Dean Weaver was Detwiler's third homer of the CWS and 12th of the season. It also marked the fourth time a player went deep twice in a championship game.

Detwiler, who added an RBI double in the fourth, said he didn't let his thumb injury hinder him.

"It's mind over matter," he said. "It's just a little pain. The pain is temporary. Pride is forever."

Detwiler caught a fly in right for the final of the game - just as his teammates predicted in the dugout before they went out for the ninth. He tucked the ball into his back pocket and sprinted to join his teammates in a wild celebration.

Someone suggested he auction the ball. Detwiler just laughed.

This ball, he said, was a keeper.

Wilson (5-5) turned in the best performance of any starter in this year's CWS. The junior left-hander struck out nine, walked one and held Georgia to three singles and a triple in seven shutout innings.

"When you've got a wonderful defense behind you and your offense is outstanding, it can't get better than that," Wilson said.