UPDATE: With a 6-1 victory, Fresno State took the deciding Game 3 to be crowned as the national champions, but were they really a Cinderella team?

With their backs against the wall, the Fresno State Bulldogs rallied from an earlier 5-0 deficit to beat up on their fellow Bulldogs from Georgia 19-10 in Game 2 of the College World Series Championship Finals. The win sets up a winner-take-all championship game at 7 PM EST on Wednesday night.

Tuesday night’s comeback and eventual thrashing performed by Fresno State is just another notch in the belt in the incredible journey the Bulldogs from the Valley have endured. Beating favored teams and staving off elimination might as well be put on the team’s daily itinerary with the regularity this squad has performed the tasks during the postseason.

Of course, you’d also have to add playing injured to that itinerary. Whether it’s torn thumb ligaments, shoulder tendinitis, or a myriad of bruised body parts, several Bulldogs have continued to show up to the ballpark and perform despite playing with injuries.

Leading the way for the walking wounded, better known as the Fresno State Bulldogs, has been third baseman Tommy Mendonca. Despite setting an NCAA record with 97 K and dislocating two fingers and severely bruising two others in regional play, Mendonca has dropped jaws in Omaha with his stellar defense and scorching hot bat.

He leads all College World Series participants in HR (a CWS record-tying 4), RBI (11), and Web Gems — seemingly making at least one highlight worthy defensive play per night. All of this even though after the game he has to awkwardly reach out his left hand in order to shake hands with fans and the media.

When Mendonca attempted to field an infield chopper in Fresno’s very first game of the NCAA tournament against Long Beach State, he came down awkwardly falling on his throwing hand when he tried to brace his fall. He had to leave the game and have x-rays taken. Doctors found no breaks, but he dislocated his middle and ring fingers and all of the sophomore’s fingers were severely bruised with their still being a good possibility there are sprained ligaments that could require offseason surgery.

Nonetheless, Mendonca came back to help lead the Bulldogs out of the Long Beach Regional, over Arizona State in the Tempe Super Regional, and through Bracket Two of the College World Series to face off with their Bulldog counterparts from across the country.

Against Georgia, Mendonca has hit two home runs, including a three-run homer that gave Fresno the lead Tuesday, and played Gold Glove-worthy defense that has left the UGA players and fans nearly speechless, including star shortstop Gordon Beckham:

“That third baseman …” Beckham said.

“We hit it hard tonight,” Beckham said. “We hit some balls … [he paused] … that third baseman, he’s an unbelievable player. I’m happy for that guy because I think he’s playing with two dislocated fingers and just playing out of his mind.” (from a great article by Matt James in the Fresno Bee after Georgia won Game 1 7-6)

Wednesday night Mendonca will try to continue to make the beginning of the season, when he was struggling to even put the ball in play (averaging around 2 K per game) and Fresno State was struggling to compete (losing 12 of their first 20 games), an all-but-forgotten memory as the UnderDogs turned WonderDogs attempt to become the supreme Bulldogs and win a national championship.

Mendonca and the Fresno bats will hope to get strong pitching support from Justin Wilson, Fresno’s default #1 starter due to yet another injury the team has endured (ace Tanner Scheppers injured his shoulder prior to the NCAA tournament). Wilson gets the ball for the first time since going 5 1/3 innings against North Carolina on Saturday. Despite walking six UNC batters, Wilson held the Tar Heels to two earned runs and was in line for the win prior to Chad Flack’s game-winning home run in the 8th inning.

Georgia Bulldogs vs Fresno State Bulldogs: Game 3 tonight @ 7 PM EST

Shotgun Spratling

Rate this:
2.5

If you enjoyed this post, you might also enjoy these related posts: