Bulldogs are picture perfect

Fresno State is one win away from a finals berth at the College World Series.

Published online on Wednesday, Jun. 25, 2008

OMAHA, Neb. - How 'bout that? Two games into the College World Series and Fresno State remains undefeated, in the winner's bracket and a win shy of advancing to the championship series.

How 'bout that?

Fresno State upset yet another national powerhouse Tuesday, this time No. 2 national seed North Carolina with a 5-3 victory in front of a near-sellout crowd of 23,314 at Rosenblatt Stadium, many stunned like some of those watching on national TV.

How 'bout that?

Cinderella is hogging the spotlight -- unseeded nationally as the first No. 4 regional seed to reach the CWS, in the CWS for the first time in 17 years, in the driver's seat of bracket play and the fan favorite of this town, if not much of the nation now.

A No. 4 regional seed in baseball would be the equivalent to a No. 13 seed in the men's basketball championships.

And a No. 13 seed this close to the championship series?

"Yeah, how about that?" Fresno State coach Mike Batesole said as he lifted up his eyebrows, perhaps in disbelief himself.

If you're one of Fresno State's nationally ranked victims, it's starting to sound like a broken record that these underdog Bulldogs continue to own the national stage.

If you're a Bulldogs fanatic, it's your favorite song stuck on repeat.

How do the Bulldogs continue to do it?

On Tuesday, they produced in tense situations.

Fresno State (44-29) came through -- once again taking a stressful route that has become quite familiar considering the Bulldogs' postseason path.

North Carolina (52-13) could not -- playing in its first tight postseason affair after breezing through its first six playoff games by a combined 59-24.

Fresno State used five pitchers who all had great control and offered various looks to disarm a line-drive hitting North Carolina team that was batting .326 entering the game.

Justin Miller, who started Tuesday after No. 2 pitcher Clayton Allison was scratched because of shoulder tendinitis, got through four innings before Batesole turned to his bullpen.

Then the chain of Kris Tomlinson, Jason Breckley, Holden Sprague and Brandon Burke combined to pitch five scoreless innings.

"I definitely feel like our inexperience at this level is playing to our advantage right now," Burke said. "It seems like teams who've been here before are pressing too much, doing too much. Whereas us, we're just trying to do the opposite.

"It's really special that almost every pitch that every pitcher on our staff throws is the most important pitch that they've ever thrown."

North Carolina coach Mike Fox had little explanation for the Tar Heels' inability to perform in the clutch.

The Tar Heels scored all of their runs in the fourth.

Fresno State claimed a 4-3 lead in the fifth when Alan Ahmady hit a two-run single with the bases loaded off reliever Brian Moran.

North Carolina had its best chance to reclaim the lead or tie in the eighth, with runners on second and third with two outs. But both were stranded after Burke came on in relief of Sprague and immediately induced an infield chopper for the inning-ending out.

As third baseman Tommy Mendonca fielded the ball and zipped it to first, Burke never looked back and, in a nonchalant manner, started to walk toward the Bulldogs' dugout.

North Carolina had never faced such a tense situation before Tuesday or against a team this calm amid near chaos.

"We don't play well when we're behind," Fox said. "I don't know why. We swung at a lot of balls, and credit Fresno State pitchers for pitching off the plate a little bit. I think we pressed a little bit."