2008 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament

2008 NCAA Division I
Baseball Tournament
Season 2008
Teams 64
College World
Series Site
Johnny Rosenblatt Stadium
Omaha, NE
Champions Fresno State (1st title)
Runner-Up Georgia (6th CWS Appearance)
Winning coach Mike Batesole (1st title)
MOP Tommy Mendonca (Fresno State)
NCAA Baseball Tournaments
«2007  2009»

The 2008 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament was held from May 30 through June 25, 2008 and was part of the 2008 NCAA Division I baseball season. The 64 NCAA Division I college baseball teams were selected out of an eligible 286 teams on May 26, 2008. Thirty teams were awarded an automatic bid as champions of their conference, and 34 teams were selected at-large by the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee. Thirty-eight of the 64 selected teams participated in the 2007 tournament.

The 2008 tournament culminated with 8 teams advancing to the College World Series at historic Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska on June 14.

On June 25, 2008, the Fresno State Bulldogs beat the Georgia Bulldogs, 6-1, to win the NCAA Men's Division I Baseball Championship. Fresno State was the lowest seeded team (4th in Regional) to win the National Championship in NCAA History.

The Series was won by Fresno State, who became the lowest ranked team ever to win an NCAA Baseball Championship, and the fifth consecutive baseball team to win the title that was not one of the eight national seeds. They were considered a 'Cinderella' team throughout the tournament. This was the second National Championship for Fresno State following the 1998 NCAA Women's College Softball team.

Fresno State sophomore third baseman Tommy Mendonca won the Most Outstanding Player Award. Tommy hit four home runs and had 11 RBIs and also made a number of spectacular plays in the field.

The first day of the 2008 CWS was moved to Saturday (June 14) from the traditional Friday. Also, if all games were needed in the first double-elimination round, it would take eight days to complete rather than seven. The NCAA cited the need to be more flexible in the super-regional round in case of inclement weather. It also allowed for greater potential ticket revenue, in part because the extra "if-necessary" day would now be ticketed separately if both games are played.[1]

Bids

Automatic bids

Conference champions from 30 Division I conferences earned automatic bids to regionals. The remaining 34 spots were awarded to schools as at-large invitees.

School Conference Record (Conf) Berth Last NCAA Appearance
Arizona State Pacific-10 45-11 (16-8) Won Pac-10 2007 (College World Series)
Bethune-Cookman MEAC 36-20 (17-1) Won MEAC tourney 2007 (Tallahassee Regional)
Bucknell Patriot League 29-22 (10-10) Won Patriot playoff 2003 (Austin Regional)
Charlotte Atlantic 10 43-14 (19-8) Won A-10 tournament 2007 (Columbia, S.C. Regional)
Coastal Carolina Big South 47-12 (17-3) Won Big South tourney 2007 (Myrtle Beach Regional)
Columbia Ivy Group 22-28 (15-5) Won Ivy Group 1976 (Northeast Regional)
Eastern Illinois Ohio Valley 27-28 (13-13) Won OVC tournament 1999 (Waco Regional)
Eastern Michigan Mid-American 25-32 (15-8) Won MAC tournament 2003 (Lincoln Regional)
Elon SoCon 43-16 (19-8) Won SoCon tourney 2006 (Clemson Regional)
Fresno State WAC 37-27 (14-10) Won WAC tourney 2007 (San Diego Regional)
Houston C-USA 39-22 (19-11) Won C-USA tourney 2006 (Norman Regional)
UIC Horizon 34-20 (17-6) Won Horizon tourney 2007 (Long Beach Regional)
James Madison Colonial Athletic 38-17 (20-9) Won CAA tourney 2002 (Columbia Regional)
Lipscomb A-Sun 32-28 (19-14) Won A-Sun tourney First appearance
Long Beach State Big West 37-19 (16-8) Won Big West 2007 (Long Beach Reg.)
Louisville Big East 41-19 (16-11) Won Big East tourney 2007 (College World Series)
LSU SEC 43-16 (18-11) Won SEC Tournament 2005 (Baton Rouge Reg.)
Miami ACC 47-8 (23-5) Won ACC tourney 2007 (Columbia, Mo., Regional)
Michigan Big Ten 45-12 (26-5) Won Big Ten tourney 2007 (Corvallis Super Regional)
Mount St. Mary's NEC 21-32 (13-11) Won NEC tourney First appearance
Oral Roberts Summit 46-12 (24-4) Won Summit tourney 2007 (Wichita Regional)
Rider Metro Atlantic 29-25 (13-10) Won MAAC tourney 1994 (Atlantic I Regional)
Sam Houston Southland 37-23 (18-12) Won Southland tourney 2007 (Oxford Regional)
San Diego WCC 41-15 (16-5) Won WCC playoff 2007 (San Diego Regional)
Stony Brook America East 34-24 (14-10) Won AmEast tourney 2004 (Kinston Regional)
Texas Big 12 37-20 (15-12) Won Big 12 tourney 2007 (Round Rock Regional)
TCU MWC 43-17 (19-5) Won MWC tourney 2007 (Houston Regional)
Texas Southern SWAC 16-32 (7-17) Won SWAC tourney 2004 (Houston Regional)
WKU Sun Belt 33-25 (16-14) Won SBC tourney 2004 (Oxford Regional)
Wichita State Missouri Valley 44-15 (19-5) Won MVC tourney 2007 (Wichita Super Regional)

Bids by conference

Conference Total Schools
Southeastern 9 Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Vanderbilt
Atlantic Coast 6 Florida State, Georgia Tech, Miami (FL), North Carolina, NC State, Virginia
Big 12 6 Missouri, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Texas, Texas A&M
Pacific-10 5 Arizona, Arizona State, California, Stanford, UCLA
Conference USA 5 East Carolina, Houston, Rice, Southern Miss, Tulane
Big West 4 UC Davis, UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State
Big East 2 Louisville, St. John's
Colonial 2 UNC Wilmington, James Madison
Sun Belt 2 New Orleans, WKU
WCC 2 Pepperdine, San Diego
Atlantic Sun 1 Lipscomb
Atlantic 10 1 Charlotte
America East 1 Stony Brook
Big South 1 Coastal Carolina
Big Ten 1 Michigan
Horizon 1 UIC
Independent 1 Dallas Baptist
Ivy 1 Columbia
Metro Atlantic 1 Rider
Mid-American 1 Eastern Michigan
Mid-Eastern 1 Bethune-Cookman
Missouri Valley 1 Wichita State
Mountain West 1 TCU
Northeast 1 Mount St. Mary's
Ohio Valley 1 Eastern Illinois
Patriot 1 Bucknell
Southern 1 Elon
Southland 1 Sam Houston State
Southwestern 1 Texas Southern
Summit 1 Oral Roberts
Western Athletic 1 Fresno State

National seeds

Bold indicates CWS participant.

  1. Miami (FL) (47-8)
  2. North Carolina (46-12)
  3. Arizona State (45-11)
  4. Florida State (48-10)
  5. Cal State Fullerton (37-19)
  6. Rice (42-13)
  7. LSU (43-16-1)
  8. Georgia (35-21-1)

Regionals and Super Regionals

Regional schedule

Regional rounds were held Friday, May 30 through Monday, June 2. Each regional followed a similar format, with 2 games played on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and one on Monday if needed.

Day Game Teams
Fri. 5/30/08 1 2/3 or 1/4 (host choice)
2 2/3 or 1/4 (host choice)
Sat. 5/31/08 3 Loser Games 1 & 2
4 Winner Games 1 & 2
Sun. 6/1/08 5 Winner Game 3 vs Loser Game 4
6 Winner Games 4 & 5
Mon. 6/2/08 7 if needed, only if winner of game 5 wins game 6

Best-of-three super regionals were held Friday, June 6 through Monday, June 9. Four series were played Friday-Sunday and four series were played Saturday-Monday.

Brackets

Bold indicates winner. * indicates extra innings.


Coral Gables Super Regional

Hosted by Miami (FL) at Mark Light Field

  First Round Second Round Regional Finals Super Regionals
                                           
1  Miami (FL) (47-8) 7  
4  Bethune-Cookman (36-20) 4  
  1  Miami (FL) 6  
  2  Missouri 5  
3  Ole Miss (37-24) 0
2  Missouri (38-19) 7  
  1  Miami (FL) 11 --  
Coral Gables Regional - Mark Light Field
  3  Ole Miss 2 --  
4  Bethune-Cookman 1  
3  Ole Miss 14  
  3  Ole Miss 9
  2  Missouri 6  
  1  Miami (FL) 3* 14 4
   Arizona 6* 10 2
1  Arizona (38-17) 13  
4  Eastern Michigan (25-32) 7  
  1  Arizona 4
  2  Michigan 3  
3  Kentucky (42-17) 5
2  Michigan (45-12) 7  
  1  Arizona 5 --
Ann Arbor Regional - Ray Fisher Stadium
  3  Kentucky 3 --  
4  Eastern Michigan 2  
3  Kentucky 3  
  3  Kentucky 12
  2  Michigan 6  

Athens Super Regional

Hosted by Georgia at Foley Field

  First Round Second Round Regional Finals Super Regionals
                                           
1  NC State (38-20) 6  
4  James Madison (38-17) 2  
  1  NC State 5  
  2  South Carolina 4  
3  Charlotte (43-14) 8
2  South Carolina (38-21) 15  
  1  NC State 2 --  
Raleigh Regional - Doak Field
  2  South Carolina 1 --  
4  James Madison 13  
3  Charlotte 12  
  4  James Madison 5
  2  South Carolina 7  
   NC State 4 10 8
  8  Georgia 11 6 17
1  Georgia (35-21-1) 7  
4  Lipscomb (32-28) 10  
  4  Lipscomb 3
  2  Georgia Tech 6  
3  Louisville (41-19) 5
2  Georgia Tech (39-19) 8  
  2  Georgia Tech 0 6
Athens Regional - Foley Field
  1  Georgia 8 18  
1  Georgia 9  
3  Louisville 8  
  1  Georgia 14
  4  Lipscomb 3  

Fullerton Super Regional

Hosted by Cal State Fullerton at Goodwin Field

  First Round Second Round Regional Finals Super Regionals
                                           
1  Cal State Fullerton (37-19) 11  
4  Rider (29-26) 0  
  1  Cal State Fullerton 4  
  2  UCLA 11  
3  Virginia (38-21) 2
2  UCLA (31-26) 3  
  2  UCLA 8 4  
Fullerton Regional - Goodwin Field
  1  Cal State Fullerton 11 5  
4  Rider 2  
3  Virginia 8  
  3  Virginia 1
  1  Cal State Fullerton 4  
  5  Cal State Fullerton 3 5 --
   Stanford 4 8 --
1  Stanford (33-21-2) 2  
4  UC Davis (34-22) 4  
  4  UC Davis 4
  2  Pepperdine 7  
3  Arkansas (34-22) 3
2  Pepperdine (32-19) 4  
  2  Pepperdine 1 7
Palo Alto Regional - Sunken Diamond
  1  Stanford 13 9  
1  Stanford 5  
3  Arkansas 1  
  1  Stanford 8
  4  UC Davis 4  

Tallahassee Super Regional

Hosted by Florida State at Dick Howser Stadium

  First Round Second Round Regional Finals Super Regionals
                                           
1  Oklahoma State (42-16) 5  
4  WKU (33-25) 3  
  1  Oklahoma State 3  
  2  Wichita State 5  
3  TCU (43-17) 5
2  Wichita State (44-15) 8  
  2  Wichita State 11* --  
Stillwater Regional - Allie P. Reynolds Stadium
  1  Oklahoma State 7* --  
4  WKU 5  
3  TCU 10  
  3  TCU 8
  1  Oklahoma State 9  
   Wichita State 10 4 4
  4  Florida State 7 14 11
1  Florida State (48-10) 0  
4  Bucknell (29-22-2) 7  
  4  Bucknell 1
  3  Tulane 4  
3  Tulane (37-20-1) 7
2  Florida (34-22) 4  
  3  Tulane 8 7
Tallahassee Regional - Dick Howser Stadium
  1  Florida State 17 16  
1  Florida State 17  
2  Florida 11  
  1  Florida State 24
  4  Bucknell 9  

Cary Super Regional

Hosted by North Carolina at USA Baseball National Training Complex

  First Round Second Round Regional Finals Super Regionals
                                           
1  North Carolina (46-12) 16  
4  Mount St. Mary's (21-32) 8  
  1  North Carolina 5  
  2  UNC Wilmington 1  
3  Elon (43-16) 2
2  UNC Wilmington (42-15-1) 5  
  1  North Carolina 7 --  
Cary Regional - USA Baseball National Training Complex
  2  UNC Wilmington 3 --  
4  Mount St. Mary's 3  
3  Elon 6  
  3  Elon 11
  2  UNC Wilmington 15  
  2  North Carolina 9 14 --
   Coastal Carolina 4 4 --
1  Coastal Carolina (47-12) 10  
4  Columbia (22-28) 2  
  1  Coastal Carolina 13
  3  Alabama 10  
3  Alabama (34-26) 16
2  East Carolina (40-19) 3  
  1  Coastal Carolina 24 --
Conway Regional - Charles Watson Stadium
  2  East Carolina 11 --  
4  Columbia 0  
2  East Carolina 9  
  2  East Carolina 16
  3  Alabama 1  

Baton Rouge Super Regional

Hosted by LSU at Alex Box Stadium

  First Round Second Round Regional Finals Super Regionals
                                           
1  Nebraska (40-14-1) 13  
4  Eastern Illinois (27-28) 10  
  1  Nebraska 2  
  2  UC Irvine 3  
3  Oral Roberts (46-12) 7
2  UC Irvine (38-16) 9  
  2  UC Irvine 8 --  
Lincoln Regional - Hawks Field
  3  Oral Roberts 0 --  
4  Eastern Illinois 7*  
3  Oral Roberts 8*  
  3  Oral Roberts 8
  1  Nebraska 0  
   UC Irvine 11 7 7
  7  LSU 5 9 21
1  LSU (43-16-1) 12  
4  Texas Southern (16-32) 1  
  1  LSU 13
  2  Southern Miss 4  
3  New Orleans (42-19) 6
2  Southern Miss (40-20) 13  
  1  LSU 11 --
Baton Rouge Regional - Alex Box Stadium
  2  Southern Miss 4 --  
4  Texas Southern 5  
3  New Orleans 18  
  3  New Orleans 2
  2  Southern Miss 8  

Houston Super Regional

Hosted by Rice at Reckling Park

  First Round Second Round Regional Finals Super Regionals
                                           
1  Rice (42-13) 3  
4  Sam Houston State (37-23) 2  
  1  Rice 11  
  3  St. John's 2  
3  St. John's (41-14) 2
2  Texas (37-20) 1  
  1  Rice 7 --  
Houston Regional - Reckling Park
  2  Texas 4 --  
4  Sam Houston State 3  
2  Texas 13  
  2  Texas 4
  3  St. John's 3  
  6  Rice 9 6 --
   Texas A&M 7 5 --
1  Texas A&M (43-16) 15  
4  UIC (34-20) 1  
  1  Texas A&M 22
  3  Houston 4  
3  Houston (39-22) 9
2  Dallas Baptist (37-17) 5  
  1  Texas A&M 3 13
College Station Regional - Olsen Field
  3  Houston 4 5  
4  UIC 9  
2  Dallas Baptist 5  
  4  UIC 11*
  3  Houston 14*  

Tempe Super Regional

Hosted by Arizona State at Packard Stadium

  First Round Second Round Regional Finals Super Regionals
                                           
1  Long Beach State (37-19) 3  
4  Fresno State (37-27) 7  
  4  Fresno State 6  
  2  San Diego 0  
3  California (33-19-2) 0
2  San Diego (41-15) 5  
  4  Fresno State 1 5  
Long Beach Regional - Blair Field
  2  San Diego 15 1  
1  Long Beach State 9  
3  California 2  
  1  Long Beach State 1
  2  San Diego 5  
   Fresno State 4 8 12
  3  Arizona State 12 6 9
1  Arizona State (45-11) 9  
4  Stony Brook (34-24) 7  
  1  Arizona State 15
  3  Oklahoma 3  
3  Oklahoma (34-24-1) 8
2  Vanderbilt (40-20) 5  
  1  Arizona State 12 --
Tempe Regional - Packard Stadium
  3  Oklahoma 0 --  
4  Stony Brook 4  
2  Vanderbilt 9  
  2  Vanderbilt 10
  3  Oklahoma 11  

College World Series

Participants

School Conference Record (Conference) Head Coach CWS Appearances CWS Best Finish CWS Record
Stanford Pac-10 39–22–2 (14–10) Mark Marquess 15
(last: 2003)
1st
(1987, 1988)
38–27
North Carolina ACC 51–12 (22–7) Mike Fox 6
(last: 2007)
2nd
(2006, 2007)
10–13
Florida State ACC 54–12 (24–6) Mike Martin 18
(last: 2000)
2nd
(1970, 1986, 1999)
25–36
Georgia SEC 41–23–1 (20–9–1) David Perno 5
(last: 2006)
1st
(1990)
6–9
Miami (FL) ACC 52–9 (23–5) Jim Morris 22
(last: 2006)
1st
(1982, 1985, 1999, 2001)
46–36
Rice C-USA 47–13 (21–3) Wayne Graham 6
(last: 2007)
1st
(2003)
10–11
Louisiana State SEC 48–17–1 (18–11–1) Paul Mainieri 13
(last: 2004)
1st
(1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000)
29–17
Fresno State WAC 42–29 (21–11) Mike Batesole 3
(last: 1991)
3rd
(1959)
4–6

Bracket

  First round Second round Semifinals Finals
                                           
1  Miami 4  
8  Georgia 7  
  8  Georgia 4  
   Stanford 3  
 Stanford 16
4  Florida State 5  
  8  Georgia 10 --  
   Stanford 8 --  
1  Miami 7  
4  Florida State 5  
  1  Miami 3
   Stanford 8  
  8  Georgia 7 10 1
   Fresno State 6 19 6
2  North Carolina 8  
7  LSU 4  
  2  North Carolina 3
   Fresno State 5  
 Fresno State 17
6  Rice 5  
   Fresno State 3 6
  2  North Carolina 4 1  
7  LSU 6  
6  Rice 5  
  7  LSU 3
  2  North Carolina 7  

Championship series

Monday, June 23

Game 14, 6:00 PM
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Fresno State (3-2), (0-1) 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 3 0 6 7 0
#8 Georgia (4-0), (1-0) 0 0 1 0 2 0 0 4 x 7 10 1
Starting pitchers:
Fresno: Sean Bonesteele (2-2)
UGA: Trevor Holder (8-4)
WP: Will Harvil (1-1)   LP: Brandon Burke (4-5)   Sv: Joshua Fields (18)
Home runs:
Fresno: Steve Detwiler (10; 2 runs, 0 outs, top of 5th), Tommy Mendonca (18; Solo, 2 out, top of 8th), Jordan Ribera (5; Solo, 0 out, top of 3rd)
UGA: Gordon Beckham (27; 2 runs, 0 out, bottom 8th)

Tuesday, June 24

Game 15, 6:35 PM
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
#8 Georgia (4-1), (1-1) 3 1 1 1 0 0 4 0 0 10 15 0
Fresno State (4-2), (1-1) 0 0 6 5 4 0 3 1 x 19 19 3
Starting pitchers:
UGA: Nick Montgomery (4-2)
Fresno: Justin Miller (6-4)
WP: Holden Sprague (6-2)   LP: Stephen Dodson (5-5)   Sv: Jake Hower (1)
Home runs:
UGA: None
Fresno: Tommy Mendonca (19; 3 runs, 2 out, bottom 3rd), Steve Susdorf (13; 2 runs, 1 out, bottom 5th)

Wednesday, June 25

Game 16, 6:00 PM
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Fresno State (5-2), (2-1) 0 2 0 1 0 3 0 0 0 6 8 4
#8 Georgia (4-2), (1-2) 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 6 2
Starting pitchers:
Fresno: Justin Wilson (8-5)
UGA: Nathan Moreau (4-3)
WP: Justin Wilson (9-5)   LP: Nathan Moreau (4-4)
Home runs:
Fresno: Steve Detwiler (11; 2 runs, 1 out, top 2nd), Steve Detwiler (12; 3 runs, 2 out, top 6th)
UGA: Gordon Beckham (28; Solo, 0 out, bottom 8th)

All Tournament Team

The following players were members of the All-Tournament Team.

Position Player School
Pitcher Alex WhiteNorth Carolina
Justin WilsonFresno St.
Catcher Jason CastroStanford
First Base Dustin AckleyNorth Carolina
Second Base Erik WetzelFresno St.
Third Base Tommy MendoncaFresno St.
Shortstop Gordon BeckhamGeorgia
Outfield Tim FedroffNorth Carolina
Steve SusdorfFresno St.
Steve DetwilerFresno St.
Designated Hitter Ryan PeiselGeorgia

Tournament performance by conference

Conference Tournament Record Percentage Schools to Super Regionals Schools to CWS
ACC 23-9 0.719 Florida State, Miami (FL), North Carolina, North Carolina State Florida State, Miami (FL), North Carolina
Western Athletic 5-2 0.714 Fresno State Fresno State
Missouri Valley 4-2 0.667 Wichita State
Pacific-10 16-9 0.640 Arizona, Arizona State, Stanford Stanford
Conference USA 14-8 0.636 Rice Rice
Big South 3-2 0.600 Coastal Carolina
WCC 5-4 0.556
SEC 19-17 0.528 Georgia, LSU Georgia, LSU
Big West 10-9 0.526 UC Irvine, Cal State Fullerton
Summit 2-2 0.500
Big 12 11-13 0.458 Texas A&M
Colonial 3-4 0.429
Atlantic Sun 1-2 0.333
Big 10 1-2 0.333
Horizon 1-2 0.333
Mountain West 1-2 0.333
Patriot 1-2 0.333
Southern 1-2 0.333
Big East 1-4 0.200
Sun Belt 1-4 0.200
America East 0-2 0.000
Atlantic 10 0-2 0.000
Independent 0-2 0.000
Ivy 0-2 0.000
Metro Atlantic 0-2 0.000
Mid-American 0-2 0.000
Mid-Eastern 0-2 0.000
Northeast 0-2 0.000
Ohio Valley 0-2 0.000
Southland 0-2 0.000
Southwestern Athletic 0-2 0.000

Tournament notes

Round 1

Round 2

Super Regionals

CWS records tied or broken

Television/radio/online coverage

Regionals

Super Regionals

Mike Gleason and Will Kimmey made up the studio team (in Bristol, Connecticut) for both regional and super-regional rounds.

College World Series

References

External links

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