Omaha, Neb. -- After having three turns to swing the bats, the Georgia baseball team was ahead 5-0 and had their best big-game pitcher of late on the mound. The only questions seemingly left to ask were: Where will the championship trophy be displayed in Butts-Mehre Building, and at what football game would the rings be handed out?

But Fresno State had another question in mind: What time will the third game start Wednesday?

Dave Weaver/AP (ENLARGE)

Fresno State players congratulate Tommy Mendonca (32) after he hit a three-run home run against Georgia in the third inning of Game 2 of the best-of-three NCAA College World Series championship baseball series, in Omaha, Neb.

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The Californians began to hit the ball -- hard and often -- against Montgomery and relievers Stephen Dodson and Will Harvil. By the time a tourniquet was applied, the damage had been done. Each allowed five runs, none of them exactly cheap, and Georgia had been tagged with a 19-10 loss, its first of the College World Series.

"It's not like we let down," said Georgia shortstop Gordon Beckham. "They beat us. They beat us straight up. They just kept hitting the ball. It was their night."

Now the championship will be decided in a one-game throwdown at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Rosenblatt Stadium. Either Georgia (45-24-1) will come away with its first championship since 1990 or Fresno State (46-31) will win its first in school history.

Georgia is expected to start left-hander Nathan Moreau, who lasted only two innings against Stanford on Saturday. At least the Dogs will have their top relievers rested: right-hander Dean Weaver has not pitched against Fresno; lefty Alex McRee and closer Joshua Fields weren't needed Tuesday.

But the victory helped revive the Fresno staff. The Bulldogs can start Justin Wilson (8-5), who has a 2.92 ERA in two CWS starts. Wilson is going on short rest, but coach Mike Batesole hopes to squeeze four or five innings from the junior lefthander.

"This is like game seven" of the World Series, Georgia coach David Perno said. "This is for everything. There's no other team I'd rather have in my dugout. It's a one shot deal, and all our guys are ready."

After Georgia seemed to have control of the game, Fresno came storming back. Fresno scored six times in the third inning to take the lead, five in the fourth and four more in the sixth. By that time it was a 15-6 Fresno lead, leaving Georgia to run a bunch of untested relievers to the mound. The results weren't pretty.

Fresno ended up with 19 hits and two were quite impressive. Third baseman Tommy Mendonca hit a monstrous three-run homer, his 19th of the season, and Steve Sunsdorf had a two-run blow in the fifth, his 13th of the season. Otherwise Fresno State took turns stroking the ball; only one player in the starting lineup failed to score a run and seven different players drove in a run. It was the first time Georgia has allowed 19 runs since 2004 against Clemson.

"Fresno State had the merry-go-round going," Georgia first baseman Rich Poythress said. "They're a good team, and anybody that thought they were out of it is crazy."

Georgia gamely tried to come back in the seventh inning, as it has most of the year. The Dogs scored four times to make it 15-10, but failed to stop Fresno in the bottom of the inning, as it answered with three runs to put aside any threat.

The win went to Holden Sprague (6-2), who threw 31/3 innings of solid relief. Jake Hower earned his first save with three shutout innings. Dodson (5-5) took the loss for Georgia after allowing five hits and five runs in one inning.