College World Series
LSU stays alive; Fresno State triumphs OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Blake Dean barely arrived at second base when his joyous LSU teammates mobbed him, starting the kind of celebration usually reserved for a national championship game.
After the hugging and back-slapping were over, Dean showed the old been-there-done-that attitude as he talked about his game-winning, three-run double that kept the Tigers alive at the College World Series.
Yes, the LSU has done this before. The Tigers dramatic 6-5 victory over Rice on Tuesday marked the second time in three wins in the national tournament they’ve come back from a three-run deficit in the ninth inning. In fact, LSU has come from behind in 30 of its wins this season.
But this was different. This was Omaha, a place that hasn’t been so kind to the Tigers since they won their last national championship in 2000.
Dean, however wouldn’t let on. It was as if his double off the left-field wall against Cole St. Clair was meant to be.
“Believing isn’t the issue,” Dean said. “There’s no doubt in our mind that we were going to do it.”
Now LSU (49-18-1) plays Thursday against North Carolina., a 5-3 loser to Fresno State.
Rice (47-15), which led 5-0 in the seventh, could have broken the Tigers’ spirit in the eighth when Micah Gibbs was thrown out at the plate to end the inning. The Tigers had pulled to 5-2 at that point and seemed to have momentum when Gibbs was nailed.
“I thought maybe we’ve run out of our good fortune for the year,” LSU coach Paul Mainieri said. “I shouldn’t have any second thoughts about these guys.”
Louis Coleman (8-0) set down the Owls in order in the ninth. Nicholas Pontiff grounded out to start the bottom half, and the Tigers were two outs from going home.
No problem.
“I don’t think these guys know what quit means,” outfielder Jared Mitchell said.
Fresno St. 5, North Carolina 3
OMAHA, Neb. – Alan Ahmady hit the go-ahead single in the fifth inning, five Fresno State pitchers combined to hold North Carolina scoreless for all but one inning and the upstart Bulldogs continued to surprise.
The Bulldogs (44-29), the first No. 4 regional seed to reach the CWS, have won two straight in Omaha to take control of Bracket 2. They need one more win to reach the best-of-three championship round that starts next Monday.
North Carolina (52-13), the No. 2 national seed, will meet LSU in an elimination game Thursday, with the winner facing Fresno on Friday. If the Bulldogs lose, they’ll play the same opponent Saturday in an elimination game.
The Bulldogs, who opened the CWS with a 17-5 win over Rice, knocked out Tar Heels starter Adam Warren (9-2) in the fifth after opening the inning with three straight singles. Brian Moran came on and gave up Ahmady’s two-run single that gave Fresno State a 4-3 lead.
Ryan Overland homered leading off the second inning, marking the first time North Carolina had trailed in a game since the fifth inning of its regional opener against UNC Wilmington.
The Tar Heels went up 3-1 in the third on three run-scoring hits: a triple by Tim Fedroff, double by Kyle Seager and single by Chad Flack.
Steve Susdorf hit the Bulldogs’ second homer of the game – and sixth of the CWS – to pull Fresno to 3-2 in the fourth. Then, Ahmady delivered his bases-loaded hit against Moran in the fifth.
Copyright Associated Press 2008