If you are at all a baseball fan do yourself a favor and watch the final game of the College World Series tonight between Georgia and Fresno State. Tonight is game three of a three game set and is sure to be as thrilling as baseball gets. The passion and excitement that these kids play with is unmatched, even in the MLB World Series. The enthusiasm the crowd shows (made up mostly of family and close friends rather than the corporate CEOs and Hollywood stars that litter the seats of Major League stadiums throughout the playoffs) is super contagious and only matched by the enthusiasm shown on the field. This year viewers get the added benefit of watching the final chapter in the greatest Cinderella story in college sports history. Fresno State is looking to become the first team with thirty or more losses to win the College World Series, and the lowest seed in ANY NCAA sport to win a championship.
Fresno State needed to win the WAC championship just to make it to the NCAA tournament. Beginning with that WAC championship game they faced five elimination games, four as underdogs. They entered the NCAA regional as a four seed. Not so bad you say? There are only four seeds in each region. With 64 total teams in the tournament, a four seed amounts to a 13-16 seed in the NCAA basketball tournament. Fresno State took out 1 seed Long Beach St. and then 2nd-seeded San Diego. After losing the first game of a three game series with 1 seeded Arizona State, the Bulldogs needed to win two straight against the number 3 team in the country. Somehow Cinderella pulled it off and advanced to the 8-team College World Series where they continued their unlikely run, defeating number 6 in the country Rice, and taking two of three from number 2 in the country North Carolina. Oh and by the way, they made this run through the World Series with their ace pitcher benched by an arm injury. To review, this is what Fresno State’s run through the tournament would look like if the baseball tournament was set up the same way as the much more popular basketball tournament: They won their conference tournament and earned a 14 seed. They took down a 3 seed in round 1, then took out a 6 seed in the second round. They beat the 1 seed in their region (3rd in the country) in the Sweet 16 and beat the 2 seed in their region (6 in the country) in the Elite 8. In the Final Four they ran into another 1 seed (2 in the country) and beat them. Now in the Finals they face another 2 seed (8 in the country). That’s a hell of a run for a 14th-seeded Cinderella. How can you not root for these guys?
In baseball though, the finals is actually a three game series. So up 6-3 heading into the bottom of the 8th in game 1, Fresno State lost the lead and lost the game 7-6. Again the Bulldogs found themselves needing to win two straight against a team ranked in the top 10 nationally. Then in game 2 Georgia built an early 5-0 lead and felt the title in their grasp, only to see Fresno State storm back for a big 19-10 victory, keeping their unlikely championship hopes alive. The first two games of this series were extremely exciting to watch and this final game promises to be the best of the bunch.
The College World Series is baseball at its purest (except for the aluminum bats). And tonight at 7PM ESPN will be airing the deciding game of the 2008 College World Series and the final game of this storied run by Fresno State. There’s no question it will be an exciting, emotional game. The only question is: Will the ultimate Cinderella get her fairy tale ending?
June 25th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Unlike Hayden Panettiere in the Tournament of Hotties, this is a Cinderella story i can get into…