Fresno State came back from a 5-0 deficit by scoring 15 runs over the 3rd, 4th, and 5th innings to force a third and final Championship Game with a 19-10 win over Georgia in game two of the 2008 Men’s College World Series Championship Finals.
Down 5-0, Fresno State got five of their first six batters on bases in the 3rd. After a Georgia pitching change, Tommy Mendonca belted a three-run home run to give Fresno State a 6-5 lead. That homer was his 4th of the CWS.
Georgia tied the game in the top of the fourth on a Gordon Beckham RBI single, but Fresno State added five more in the bottom of the 5th. Danny Muno’s two-run triple gave Fresno State an 8-6 lead. After Muno scored on an infield single, Fresno State loaded the bases and Ryan Overland’s two-out single scored two more runs to extend the lead to 11-6. Fresno State added four more runs in the 5th inning to make the score to 15-6 before Georgia closed the gap with four runs in the 7th.
Fresno Stated stopped any chance of a Georgia rally by adding three runs in the bottom of the 7th and another in the 9th to cap the scoring.
The 19 runs were the most runs for any team in the Championship Finals (which began in 2003) and the 29 combined runs were also a Championship Finals record.
Fresno State also pounded out 19 hits, including five extra-base hits against seven Georgia pitchers.
Fresno State’s Holden Sprague (6-2) got the win with 3.1 innings of relief and Jake Hower got the save, allowing just one hit and one walk in three innings of work.
Georgia’s David Perno and Gordon Beckham talk about Fresno State’s explosiveness and Fresno’s Mike Batesol talks about his team’s courage and what needs to happen tomorrow.