2008 Fresno State Bulldogs baseball team

2008 Fresno State Bulldogs baseball
NCAA Champions
WAC Champions
WAC Tournament Champions
Conference Western Athletic Conference
2008 record 47-31 (21-11 WAC)
Head coach Mike Batesole
Home stadium Beiden Field
Seasons
« 2007 2009 »

The 2008 Fresno State Bulldogs baseball team represented California State University, Fresno in the NCAA Division I baseball season of 2008. They played their home games at Beiden Field in Fresno, California. The team was coached by Mike Batesole who was in his fifth season at Fresno State. Under Batesole, Fresno State has won three Western Athletic Conference Championships in a row, and he has a 172-134 record with the Bulldogs.

In a surprise Cinderella run through the postseason, the Fresno State Bulldogs defeated the Georgia Bulldogs in the 2008 College World Series finals to win its first NCAA Division I Championship in baseball (or, for that matter, in any men's sport). The Bulldogs visited President George W. Bush at the White House in November 2008, and by the end of the year, a book was released capturing their upset story. wonderdogsbook.comUnderdogs to Wonderdogs: Fresno State's Road to Omaha and the College World Series Championship, was written by the team's radio announcer, Paul Loeffler. Another book by a Fresno sportscaster is in the works too.

Contents

Pre-Season

Fresno State entered the season ranked in the Collegiate Baseball newspaper's Fabulous 40 for the third consecutive season, at #21 [1]. Fresno State was also ranked #21 by the preseason magazine Baseball America[2].

Fresno state was preseason pick of the WAC coaches as the favorite to win the 2008 season; additionally, seven players were selected to the Preseason All-Wac Team, including the preseason Player of the Year Steve Susdorf and Pitcher of the Year Clayton Allison[3]

Regular season

WAC Tournament

NCAA Tournament: Regionals

NCAA Tournament: Super Regionals

Played Arizona St. at Arizona St.; Lost game one, and then bounced back and won two straight to advance to the College World Series.

NCAA Tournament: College World Series

In their first game, they defeated Rice 17-5. In their next game, they continued their miracle run defeating the North Carolina Tar Heels 5-3. After the Tar Heels defeated LSU in the second round of the loser's bracket, they returned once again to play Fresno St., who they would have to beat twice as Fresno St. had no losses, to earn a spot in the Championship Series. In the first game, N. Carolina won 4-3. The following evening, in the second of two games, Fresno St. outplayed N. Carolina to a 6-1 victory, moving on to the championship series.

In game one of the three game Championship Series against Georgia, Fresno St. lost late in the 8th inning after holding a decent lead for most of the game. Game 2 started out bad for Fresno St., but the Bulldogs fought back in the third inning and held off Georgia on the way to an impressive 19-10 beat down. In the final game of the series, with the NCAA Championship on the line, Fresno was led by Steve Detwiler and Justin Wilson to a victory and Championship in a 6-1 rout of Georgia.[4]

Roster

Coaches

Name Title First Season at Fresno State Alma Mater
Mike Batesole[5] Head Coach 2003 Cal State Fullerton (1990)
Pat Waer[6] Assistant Coach 2006 Washington State (1995)
Matt Curtis[7] Assistant Coach 2002 Fresno State (1996)
Mike Mayne[8] Assistant Coach 2007 UC Riverside (1968)

Players

No. Players Position Year Ht/Wt Bats/Throws Hometown (Last School)
3 Eric Wetzel INF JR 6-1/180 R/R Chino, CA (Don Lugo HS)
4 Danny Grubb C JR 5-11/185 R/R Orange, CA (Orange Lutheran HS)
5 Trent Soares OF FR 6-0/180 L/R Fresno, CA (San Joaquin Memorial High School)
7 Nick Hom INF FR 6-0/180 R/R Benicia, CA (De La Salle HS)
9 Alan Ahmady INF SO 5-11/195 R/R Fresno, CA (Clovis West HS)
10 Jason Breckley RHP SR 6-1/220 R/R Moorpark, CA (Moorpark HS)
11 Todd Sandell INF SR 6-2/190 R/R Somis, CA (Camarillo HS)
14 Tanner Scheppers RHP JR 6-4/220 R/R Laguna Niguel, CA (Dana Hills HS)
15 Steve Detwiler OF SO 6-1/220 R/R Forest Knolls, CA (San Rafael HS)
16 Danny Muno INF FR 5-11/170 S/R Thousand Oaks, CA (Loyola HS)
19 Jordan Ribera INF FR 6-0/220 L/R Fresno, CA (Clovis West HS)
21 Justin Wilson LHP JR 6-3/210 L/L Clovis, CA (Buchanan HS)
24 Ryan Overland C SR 6-2/200 L/R Atascadero, CA (Atascadero HS)
25 Brandon Burke RHP SR 6-3/200 R/R San Diego, CA (Rancho Bernardo HS)
27 Steve Susdorf OF SR 6-1/195 L/L Newhall, CA (Hart HS)
29 Gavin Hedstrom OF JR 6-1/190 R/R Irvine, CA (Woodbridge HS)
30 Blake Amador OF SR 6-0/190 L/L Turlock, CA (Modesto JC/UNLV)
32 Tommy Mendonca INF SO 6-1/200 L/R Turlock, CA (Turlock HS)
33 Justin Miller RHP JR 6-5/195 R/R Bakersfield, CA (Bakersfield College)
34 Jake Johnson C FR 6-2/205 R/R La Mirada, CA (La Mirada HS)
37 Sean Bonesteele RHP SO 6-5/220 R/R Santa Ana, CA (Foothill HS)
38 Jake Floethe RHP FR 6-3/195 R/R Lafayette, CA (Acalanes HS)
40 Clayton Allison RHP SR 6-5/230 R/R Visalia, CA (College of the Sequoias)
42 Gene Escat RHP FR 6-5/190 R/R Hanford, CA (Hanford HS)
43 Kris Tomlinson LHP JR 6-0/180 L/L Visalia, CA (Golden West HS)
47 Holden Sprague RHP JR 6-2/210 R/R Fresno, CA (Bullard HS)
50 Jake Hower RHP SR 6-4/190 R/R Roseville, CA (American River CC)

Schedule/Results

2008 Fresno State Bulldogs baseball Game Log
Regular Season
# Date Opponent Score Site/Stadium Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record WAC Record
1[9] February 22 UC Davis 2-4 Beiden Field Gamboa (1-0) Wilson (0-1) 1,938 0-1
2 February 23 UC Davis 1-3 Beiden Field McAtee (1-0) Allison, C. (0-1) 0-2
3 UC Davis 1-2
4 UC Davis 2-2
5 Cal 2-3
6 San Diego 2-4
7 Cal Poly 2-5
8 San Diego State 3-5
9 Santa Clara 3-6
10 Indiana 4-6
11 Indiana 5-6
12 5-7
13 5-8
14 5-9
15 6-9
16 7-9
17 8-9
18 8-10
19 8-11
20 8-12
21 9-12
22 10-12
23 11-12
24 12-12
25 13-12
26 14-12
27 14-13
28 15-13
29 16-13
30 16-14
31 16-15
32 17-15
33 18-15
34 19-15
35 20-15
36 20-16
37 21-16
38 22-16
39 23-16
40 24-16
41 24-17
42 25-17
43 26-17
44 26-18
45 26-19
46 26-20
47 26-21
48 27-21
49 27-22
50 27-23
51 28-23
52 28-24
53 29-24
54 30-24
55 31-24
56 31-25
57 31-26
58 31-27
59 32-27
60 33-27
WAC Tournament
# Date Opponent Score Site/Stadium Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record WACT Record
61[10] May 22 Sacramento State 3-2 J.C. Love Field Allison (2-4) York (4-6) 927 34-27 1-0
62[11] May 23 San Jose State 7-3 J.C. Love Field Martin (5-3) Cotham (7-5) 1,168 35-27 2-0
63[12] May 24 Hawaii 11-4 J.C. Love Field Breckley, J. (2-2) Daly (5-5) 1,017 36-27 3-0
64 May 25 Nevada 6-4 J.C. Love Field 898 37-27 4-0
NCAA Tournament: Regionals
# Date Opponent Score Site/Stadium Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record NCAAT Record
65[13] May 31 Long Beach State 7-3 Blair Field Wilson (7-4) Liebel (8-4) none 1,958 38-27 1-0
66[14] May 31 San Diego 6-0 Blair Field Allison (3-5) Romanski (9-1) none 1,573 39-27 2-0
67[15] June 1 San Diego 15-1 Blair Field Blair (8-4) Miller (6-3) none 1,481 39-28 2-1
68[16] June 2 San Diego 5-1 Blair Field Sprague (4-2) Solis (3-2) Burke (5) 1,256 40-28 3-1
NCAA Tournament: Super Regionals
# Date Opponent Score Site/Stadium Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record NCAAT Record
69[17] June 7 Arizona State 12-4 Packard Stadium Leake (11-2) Wilson (7-5) none 4,371 40-29 3-2
70[18] June 8 Arizona State 8-6 Packard Stadium Sprague (5-2) Satow (9-4) Burke (12) 4,423 41-29 4-2
71[19] June 9 Arizona State 12-9 Packard Stadium Tomlinson (2-1) Leake (11-3) none 3,219 42-29 5-2
NCAA Tournament: College World Series
# Date Opponent Score Site/Stadium Win Loss Save Attendance Overall Record NCAAT Record
72[20] June 15 Rice 17-5 Rosenblatt Stadium Wilson (8-5) Berry (8-5) none 18,108 43-29 6-2
73[21] June 17 North Carolina 5-3 Rosenblatt Stadium Breckley (3-2) Warren (9-2) Burke (13) 23,314 44-29 7-2
74[22] June 21 North Carolina 4-3 Rosenblatt Stadium White (13-3) Miller (6-4) none 18,611 44-30 7-3
75[23] June 22 North Carolina 6-1 Rosenblatt Stadium Allison (4-5) Moran (1-2) none 15,125 45-30 8-3
76[24] June 23 Georgia 7-6 Rosenblatt Stadium Harvil (2-1) Burke (4-6) Fields (18) 19,559 45-31 8-4
77[25] June 24 Georgia 19-10 Rosenblatt Stadium Sprague (6-2) Dodson (5-5) Hower (1) 17,223 46-31 9-4
78[26] June 25 Georgia 6-1 Rosenblatt Stadium Wilson (5-5) Moreau (4-4) none 18,932 47-31 10-4

Rankings

Awards and honors

Player Award/Honor
Clayton Allison WAC Pitcher of the Week (April 16 - April 27)[27]
Alan Ahmady WAC Player of the Week and National Player of the Week (March 24 - March 30)
Steve Susdorf WAC Player of the Week (April 16 - April 27)[27], WAC Player of the Year 2008[28], ESPN The Magazine Academic All-American[29]
Justin Wilson WAC Pitcher of the Week (May 7 - May 13)[30]
Mike Batesole NCBWA National Coach of the Year Award[31]

Fresno State Bulldogs in the 2008 Major League Baseball Draft

The following members of the 2008 Fresno State baseball team were drafted in the 2008 MLB Draft.

Player Position Overall MLB Team
Justin Wilson LHP 144 Pittsburgh Pirates
Erik Wetzel 2B 407 Colorado Rockies
Justin Miller RHP 483 Texas Rangers
Steven Susdorf OF 586 Philadelphia Phillies
Clayton Allison RHP 817 Los Angeles Dodgers

See also

References

  1. ^ Fresno State Ranked 21st in Preseason Baseball Poll
  2. ^ Baseball America Preseason College Top 25
  3. ^ WAC Baseball Preseason Poll and All-WAC Team Announced
  4. ^ Associated Press, "Justin Wilson, Steve Detweiler lead Fresno State to 6-1 win over Georgia to claim the national title," June 26, 2008, Madera Times, accessed June 26, 2008; Detweiler drove in all six runs in the Bulldogs' third-game victory in the College World Series
  5. ^ Player Bio: Mike Batesole @ GoBulldogs.com
  6. ^ Pat Waer Bio @ GoBulldogs.com
  7. ^ Pat Waer Bio @ GoBulldogs.com
  8. ^ Mike Mayne Bio @ GoBulldogs.com
  9. ^ Overland Homers, But 'Dogs Fall 4-2 :: UC Davis Aggies steal first game of series from Bulldogs
  10. ^ Bulldogs Earn 3-2 Win over Sacramento State
  11. ^ Susdorf Sets Record in 7-3 Victory
  12. ^ Baseball Advances to WAC Title Game
  13. ^ Bulldogs Beat No. 11 Dirtbags
  14. ^ Allison, Bulldogs Shutout No. 6 Toreros
  15. ^ Dogs to Play No. 6 San Diego for Regional Title
  16. ^ Super Dogs!
  17. ^ Dogs Outgunned by No. 3 Arizona State
  18. ^ Dogs Down No. 3 Devils
  19. ^ Omaha Bound!
  20. ^ Bulldogs Pound No. 5 Rice 17-5
  21. ^ Wonderdogs Takeout No. 2 Tar Heels
  22. ^ No. 2 Tar Heels Edge Dogs
  23. ^ Wonderdogs Win!
  24. ^ Dogs Play Georgia Tough in Game 1
  25. ^ Dogs Pound Georgia 19-10
  26. ^ Fresno State Wins 2008 College Baseball National Championship
  27. ^ a b Fresno State Sweeps Player of the Week Awards
  28. ^ The College Baseball Blog | 2008 WAC All-Conference Teams Announced
  29. ^ ESPN - Susdorf, Bulldogs thriving in role as underdogs on road to Omaha - College Sports
  30. ^ WAC Announces Baseball Players of the Week
  31. ^ Batesole Named National Coach of the Year

External links