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Georgia pounds Stanford to reach CWS final


The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 06/21/08

Omaha, Neb. — For four days the Georgia baseball team has cast about town, trying to find a way to kill time. There were picnics, endless video games and visits to the local Boys Club.

Now the Bulldogs will have to mine their imaginations again today for another diversion, but this time they don't mind. This time they'll be resting up to play for the national championship for the first time since 1990.

AP
Georgia's Ryan Peisel rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run in the fifth inning. Peisel had three or more hits for the fourth-consecutive game.
 

Georgia remained undefeated in the College World Series on Saturday, beating Stanford 10-8 at Rosenblatt Stadium, and is scheduled to play either Fresno State or North Carolina in a best-of-three series that begins at 7 p.m. ET on Monday.

"We came here to play, and now we're in the national championship game, and you couldn't ask for more," said shortstop Gordon Beckham. "All we wanted to do was be playing on the last day."

Georgia (44-23-1) overpowered the Cardinal — the first time in this year's CWS that the Dogs have played with the lead — with 15 hits, the second-most in the school's CWS history. The only bad stretch came in the ninth inning, when Stanford (41-24-2) caused a few pulse rates to increase when it scored four runs against closer Joshua Fields.

"Georgia was too much for us today," said Stanford coach Mark Marquess. "Everybody was getting the big hit for them time and time again. Not only did they get a lot of hits, they got a lot of hits with two outs."

The first clutch hit, which set the pace for the game, came when Joey Lewis drove in Rich Poythress with a two-out single in the second. Lewis did it again in the third, this time driving in two with a two-out single.

They were pretty good in one-out situations, too. Poythress greeted new pitcher Drew Storen with a two-run single in the fourth and Ryan Peisel hit a towering three-run homer in the fifth.

"We battled all day," Peisel said. "It took us a few innings to settle in, but we played our game and sort of outplayed them today."

Poythress finished with four RBIs, and Peisel and Lewis each drove in three.

Georgia staked starter Nathan Moreau, making his first appearance since the Super Regional against N.C. State, to a 4-0 lead in the third. But when the junior loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning, coach David Perno went for the quick hook, bringing in Dean Weaver, who permitted only one of the inherited runners to score.

Weaver (6-1) got the win after pitching 3 2/3 innings, which saw him give up six hits and three runs. Lefty Alex McCree followed with two scoreless innings. Fields, the team's closer, struggled with location and allowed a season-high four runs.

"The bullpen was phenomenal in the middle innings," Perno said.

The pitchers were able to shut down Stanford slugger Jason Castro, who went 1-for-5 with two strikeouts. He struck out in the third with the bases loaded, his only at-bat with runners in scoring position.

"They did a great job pitching," Castro said. "They were going inside-outside and mixing speeds. They came up with the big pitches when they needed to. They made it hard on our hitters."

Georgia knocked out Stanford starter Jeremy Bleich (3-3) with one out in the fourth, then touched Storen, the best Cardinal reliever, for three runs.

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