Title matchup to be a battle of the Bulldogs

Well, it's official -- the College World Series has gone to the dogs.

To be precise, it will be an all-Bulldogs championship final as upstart Fresno State finished off North Carolina 6-1 on Sunday to win the second bracket and claim the school's first-ever trip to the national finals at Rosenblatt Stadium.

North Carolina had rallied twice to keep their hopes of a third straight championship series alive, but they ran out of comebacks Sunday night as the Bulldogs jumped out to an early lead and never looked back.

Tommy Mendoza got Fresno State on the board in the bottom of the third when he laced a two-run single to left, scoring Erik Wetzel and Steve Susdorf. Wetzel got the rally going with a single and was followed by an opposite-field double from Susdorf to put two in scoring position.

North Carolina cut the lead in half when Kyle Shelton drew a bases-loaded walk, but that's as close as the Tar Heels would get off Clay Allison, who pitched six innings and allowed six hits and three walks while striking out six.

Fresno got the run they gave up in the top of the fourth back in the bottom of the inning when Danny Muno singled home Jordan Ribera. They got some more insurance in the fifth when Mendonza drove in his third run of the night with a double, scoring Alan Ahmady. The Bulldogs tacked on two more in the sixth for good measure to become the lowest-seeded team ever to reach the championship round.

Fresno State won't get much time to rest up, though -- Georgia awaits in Monday's first game in the best-of-three championship series, and the southern Bulldogs will come in a lot fresher than their western counterparts, having wrapped up their shot at the title on Saturday by eliminating Stanford.

It's been five years since a seeded team claimed the College World Series title. Rice was the last seeded team to win it all, taking the title in 2003. Since then, Cal State Fullerton (2004), Texas (2005) and Oregon State (2006 and 2007) came to Omaha unseeded and left with the title of national champions. It will be interesting to see if a worn-out Fresno State team can keep that streak alive against a very solid Georgia squad.

Tournament Schedule

(NOTE: All times listed are Central)

Saturday, June 14
Game 1: Stanford 16, Florida State 5
Game 2: Georgia 7, Miami 4

Sunday, June 15
Game 3: Fresno State 17, Rice 5
Game 4: North Carolina 8, LSU 4

Monday, June 16
Game 5: Miami 7, Florida State 5 (Florida State eliminated)
Game 6: Georgia 4, Stanford 3

Tuesday, June 17
Game 7: LSU 6, Rice 5 (Rice eliminated)
Game 8: Fresno State 5, North Carolina 3

Wednesday, June 18
Game 9: Stanford 8, Miami 3 (Miami eliminated)

Friday, June 20
Game 10: North Carolina 7, LSU 3 (LSU eliminated)

Saturday, June 21
Game 11: Georgia 10, Stanford 8 (Stanford eliminated)
Game 12: North Carolina 4, Fresno State 3

Sunday, June 22
Game 14: Fresno State 6, North Carolina 1 (North Carolina eliminated)

Championship Series

(NOTE: All start times are at 6 p.m.)

Monday, June 23
Game 1: Georgia (44-23-1) vs. Fresno State (45-30)

Tuesday, June 24
Game 2: Georgia vs. Fresno State

Wednesday, June 25
Game 3: Georgia vs. Fresno State (if necessary)

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