Remember those Underdogs to Wonderdogs? Fresno State’s national champion team is back

Ready to party like it’s 2008 again?

Yes, it’s already been a decade since Fresno State shocked the college baseball world with their memorable Underdogs-to-Wonderdogs run to the national championship.

And now, members of that 2008 College World Series championship team are getting together for a 10-year reunion this weekend at Beiden Field. At least 16 players from the championship roster have confirmed they will attend the festivities, which coincides with the current Fresno State baseball team hosting San Jose State for a three-game Mountain West series.

Players from the 2008 team will sign autographs before Sunday’s game and championship posters will be available. Then the national champs will be honored on the field during a pregame ceremony, which includes all of the 2008 players throwing out the first pitch.

Fresno State capped one of the most improbable seasons in NCAA history when a Bulldogs team that was a No. 4 seed in regional play (equivalent to a No. 13-16 seed in an NCAA basketball tournament) took on one of the most difficult paths to a championship, survived six elimination games and used every player on its roster to make it happen.

And it ended with one of the most memorable dogpiles ever at Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Neb., after Fresno State took two of three games from No. 8 national seed Georgia in the College World Series championship, including a 6-1 victory in the final.

Bulldogs ace Justin Wilson, who’s in the majors now, mowed down Georgia hitters all night with nine strikeouts over eight innings

Right fielder Steve Detweiler, who had a quiet postseason until the final game, launched a pair of home runs and drove in all six of the Bulldogs’ runs. He also caught the final out.

And closer Brandon Burke, the program’s all-time saves leader, tossed a scoreless ninth.

Along the way, players like Danny Muno, Gavin Hedstrom, Erik Wetzel, Steve Susdorf, Alan Ahmady, Tommy Mendonca, Jordan Ribera, Danny Grubb and Ryan Overland shined at different moments at the plate.

Mendonca was named the CWS Most Outstanding Players.

Pitchers Clayton Allison, Justin Miller, Holden Sprague, Kris Tomlinson, Sean Bonesteele and Jason Breckley all came up big on the mound in the absence of ace Tanner Scheppers, a MLB first-round pick who sat out the entire postseason run because of injury.

“That group of guys will always be special,” Batesole said earlier this year. “They played for each other and never flinched.

“It never gets old revisiting those memories.”

This story was originally published April 13, 2018 at 11:15 AM with the headline "Remember those Underdogs to Wonderdogs? Fresno State’s national champion team is back."