OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - The 2008 Georgia Bulldogs have already
established themselves as one of the school's greatest teams.
To become known as a team for the ages, there's one thing left
to do.
That task begins Monday when the Bulldogs (44-23-1) open the
College World Series best-of-three championship round against
Fresno State, which beat out North Carolina in Sunday night's
Bracket 2 final.
"No one's going to remember who loses this series," Georgia
coach David Perno said Sunday. "Everyone is going to remember who
wins. That's just life. It's that simple. It's maybe cold, however
you want to say it.
"North Carolina has done a phenomenal job the last two years,
but everybody remembers Oregon State. That's just the way it is."
The Tar Heels were runner-up to the Beavers the past two years.
Considering the Bulldogs finished 22-33 a year ago, just making
it to the College World Series for the third time in five years was
a major accomplishment. They're the first team to make it to the
CWS finals after having a losing record the previous year.
"It's been quite a run," Perno said, "and hopefully we can
finish it out."
The Bulldogs, batting .330 in three CWS games, enter the finals
with five players batting .400 or higher in Omaha. Leadoff man Ryan
Peisel, who's hitting .500, has seven RBIs and both of Georgia's
home runs.
Georgia will be looking to get more out of its starting
pitchers. None has worked more than four innings in the CWS, and
Trevor Holder, Nick Montgomery and Nathan Moreau have combined for
a 6.75 ERA.
"I can't be so quick to the trigger on bringing in our bullpen
in the third or fourth inning," Perno said.
Holder (8-4) will start Monday, with Stephen Dodson and Alex
McRee ready to go in relief. Montgomery (4-2) is the probable
starter Tuesday. If a third game is necessary, Moreau (4-3) or
Dodson (5-4) would get consideration.
"I'm not concerned with Game 3 right now," Perno said. "If it
comes to that, we have plenty of options."
Perno will also be looking for improvement from All-American
closer Joshua Fields, who gave up four runs in the ninth inning of
Saturday's 10-8 win over Stanford. Fields has allowed nine earned
runs in 6 1-3 innings over six appearances in the NCAA tournament.
Fields has played perhaps the biggest role in the Bulldogs' run
this season, Perno said. The Atlanta Braves picked him in the
second round of the 2007 draft, and Perno figured he was as good as
gone. But Fields came back to school, established the Southeastern
Conference career saves record (42) and was the 20th overall pick
in this year's draft by the Seattle Mariners.
The Bulldogs had already returned shortstop Gordon Beckham, the
eighth pick overall by the White Sox, in addition to a
battle-tested pitching staff.
"When Josh decided to come back, I was like, 'We better be good
or I might not have a job,"' Perno said. "We did a nice job and
really banded together with the leadership. But it wasn't so much
the leadership as it was the performance from those guys. I
demanded the performance. Go out and have your best season. And
that's what they've done."
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