Georgia wins battle of Dawgs in Omaha

By ERIC OLSON
AP Sports Writer
Published: June 23, 2008

    OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Joey Lewis hit a tiebreaking double in
Georgia’s four-run eighth inning, and the Bulldogs came from three
runs down to defeat Fresno State 7-6 in Game 1 of the College World
Series finals on Monday night.
    Fresno State appeared to take control in the top of the eighth
when it scored three runs to go up 6-3. But Georgia (45-23-1)
wasn’t finished, and now stands one win away from a second national
championship to go with the one it won in 1990.
    Fresno State (45-31), 4-0 in elimination games in the NCAA
tournament, will try to keep its improbable postseason run alive
when the teams meet in Game 2 on Tuesday.
    After Matt Olson singled leading off the bottom of the eighth,
Fresno State called on closer Brandon Burke. Gordon Beckham sent
Burke’s second pitch over the fence in left-center for his 27th
homer, with Burke breaking into a big smile and shaking his head as
soon as the ball left the bat.
    Burke (4-6) walked Rich Poythress, and then Matt Cerione doubled
into the left-field corner. Poythress made it home from first,
coming across the plate for the tying run as Danny Muno’s relay
throw hit him in the back.
    Cerione scored the go-ahead run when Lewis’ bouncer up the
middle glanced off the second-base bag and shot into short left
field.
    All-America closer Joshua Fields, who gave up four runs to
Stanford in the ninth inning Saturday, set Fresno State down 1-2-3
to end the game.
    Will Harvil (2-1), the fourth of Georgia’s five pitchers, worked
a third of the inning for the win.
    Fresno State led 6-3 in the top of the eighth after Steve
Susdorf hit a tiebreaking double.
    Susdorf’s nation-leading 32nd double off Alex McRee ignited a
three-run eighth that gave Fresno State’s depleted pitching staff a
little cushion. Tommy Mendonca hit his 18th homer and Detwiler
followed with an RBI double against Justin Earls for a 6-3 lead.
    Fresno State got home runs from the bottom of its lineup to take
a 3-2 advantage.
    Jordan Ribera, the No. 9 hitter who came in batting .118 in the
CWS, homered off Georgia starter Trevor Holder’s first pitch of the
third inning.
    In the fifth, after Holder walked Ryan Overland, Detwiler sent a
drive high into the stands in left field for his second homer in
Omaha and 10th of the season.
    Before its eighth-inning outburst, Georgia had scored single
runs in the first, fourth and sixth innings.