2008 NCAA Division I baseball tournament

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.

2008 NCAA Division I
baseball tournament
Season2008
Teams64
Finals site
ChampionsFresno State (1st title)
Runner-upGeorgia (6th CWS Appearance)
Winning coachMike Batesole (1st title)
MOPTommy Mendonca (Fresno State)

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

The Fresno State Bulldogs beat the Georgia Bulldogs in the best-of-three championship series to win the NCAA Men's Division I Baseball Championship. Fresno State became the lowest seeded team (4th in the Regionals) to win the National Championship in NCAA history, 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 only the third national championship of any kind in school history, following the 1968 NCAA Men's Tennis Tournament and the 1998 NCAA Division I softball national champions.

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

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Automatic bids

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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 League 22–28 (15–5) Won Ivy playoff 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 (FL) 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 State 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)
Western Kentucky 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

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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, Western Kentucky
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

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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

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Regional schedule

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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

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Bold indicates winner. * indicates extra innings.


Coral Gables Super Regional

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Hosted by Miami (FL) at Mark Light Field

First round Second round Regional finals Super regionals
               
1 Miami (FL) 7
4 Bethune-Cookman 4
1 Miami (FL) 6
2 Missouri 5
3 Ole Miss 0
2 Missouri 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 611 10 2
1 Arizona 13
4 Eastern Michigan 7
1 Arizona 4
2 Michigan 3
3 Kentucky 5
2 Michigan 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

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Hosted by Georgia at Foley Field

First round Second round Regional finals Super regionals
               
1 NC State 6
4 James Madison 2
1 NC State 5
2 South Carolina 4
3 Charlotte 8
2 South Carolina 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 7
4 Lipscomb 10
4 Lipscomb 3
2 Georgia Tech 6
3 Louisville 5
2 Georgia Tech 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

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Hosted by Cal State Fullerton at Goodwin Field

First round Second round Regional finals Super regionals
               
1 Cal State Fullerton 11
4 Rider 0
1 Cal State Fullerton 4
2 UCLA 11
3 Virginia 2
2 UCLA 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 2
4 UC Davis 4
4 UC Davis 4
2 Pepperdine 7
3 Arkansas 3
2 Pepperdine 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

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Hosted by Florida State at Dick Howser Stadium

First round Second round Regional finals Super regionals
               
1 Oklahoma State 5
4 Western Kentucky 3
1 Oklahoma State 3
2 Wichita State 5
3 TCU 5
2 Wichita State 8
2 Wichita State 1110
Stillwater Regional – Allie P. Reynolds Stadium
1 Oklahoma State 7
4 Western Kentucky 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 0
4 Bucknell 7
4 Bucknell 1
3 Tulane 4
3 Tulane 7
2 Florida 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

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Hosted by North Carolina at USA Baseball National Training Complex

First round Second round Regional finals Super regionals
               
1 North Carolina 16
4 Mount St. Mary's 8
1 North Carolina 5
2 UNC Wilmington 1
3 Elon 2
2 UNC Wilmington 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 10
4 Columbia 2
1 Coastal Carolina 13
3 Alabama 10
3 Alabama 16
2 East Carolina 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

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Hosted by LSU at Alex Box Stadium

First round Second round Regional finals Super regionals
               
1 Nebraska 13
4 Eastern Illinois 10
1 Nebraska 2
2 UC Irvine 3
3 Oral Roberts 7
2 UC Irvine 9
2 UC Irvine 8
Lincoln Regional – Hawks Field
3 Oral Roberts 0
4 Eastern Illinois 7
3 Oral Roberts 810
3 Oral Roberts 8
1 Nebraska 0
UC Irvine 11 7 7
7 LSU 5 9 21
1 LSU 12
4 Texas Southern 1
1 LSU 13
2 Southern Miss 4
3 New Orleans 6
2 Southern Miss 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

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Hosted by Rice at Reckling Park

First round Second round Regional finals Super regionals
               
1 Rice 3
4 Sam Houston State 2
1 Rice 11
3 St. John's 2
3 St. John's 2
2 Texas 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 15
4 UIC 1
1 Texas A&M 22
3 Houston 4
3 Houston 9
2 Dallas Baptist 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 1411

Tempe Super Regional

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Hosted by Arizona State at Packard Stadium

First round Second round Regional finals Super regionals
               
1 Long Beach State 3
4 Fresno State 7
4 Fresno State 6
2 San Diego 0
3 California 0
2 San Diego 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 9
4 Stony Brook 7
1 Arizona State 15
3 Oklahoma 3
3 Oklahoma 8
2 Vanderbilt 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

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Participants

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School Conference Record (conference) Head coach CWS appearances Best CWS finish CWS record
Not including this year
Florida State ACC 54–12 (24–6) Mike Martin 18
(last: 2000)
2nd
(1970, 1986, 1999)
25–36
Fresno State WAC 42–29 (21–11) Mike Batesole 3
(last: 1991)
3rd
(1959)
4–6
Georgia SEC 41–23–1 (20–9–1) David Perno 5
(last: 2006)
1st
(1990)
6–9
LSU SEC 48–17–1 (18–11–1) Paul Mainieri 13
(last: 2004)
1st
(1991, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000)
29–17
Miami (FL) ACC 52–9 (23–5) Jim Morris 22
(last: 2006)
1st
(1982, 1985, 1999, 2001)
46–36
North Carolina ACC 51–12 (22–7) Mike Fox 6
(last: 2007)
2nd
(2006, 2007)
10–13
Rice C-USA 47–13 (21–3) Wayne Graham 6
(last: 2008)
1st
(2003)
10–11
Stanford Pac-10 39–22–2 (14–10) Mark Marquess 15
(last: 2003)
1st
(1987, 1988)
38–27

Bracket

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First round Second round Semifinals Finals
               
1 Miami (FL) 4
8 Georgia 7
8 Georgia 4
Stanford 3
Stanford 16
4 Florida State 5
8 Georgia 10
Stanford 8
1 Miami (FL) 7
4 Florida State 5
1 Miami (FL) 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

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Monday, June 23

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Game 14, 6:00 PM
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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

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Game 15, 6:35 PM
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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

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Game 16, 6:00 PM
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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

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

Position Player School
P Alex White North Carolina
Justin Wilson Fresno State
C Jason Castro Stanford
1B Dustin Ackley North Carolina
2B Erik Wetzel Fresno State
3B Tommy Mendonca (MOP) Fresno State
SS Gordon Beckham Georgia
OF Tim Fedroff North Carolina
Steve Susdorf Fresno State
Steve Detwiler Fresno State
DH Ryan Peisel Georgia

Record by conference

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Conference # of Bids Record Win % RF SR WS NS CS NC
WAC 1 10–4 .714 1 1 1 1 1 1
SEC 9 24–21 .533 5 2 2 1 1
ACC 6 27–15 .643 5 4 3 1
Pac-10 5 18–11 .621 4 3 1 1
Conference USA 5 14–10 .583 5 1 1
Big West 4 10–9 .526 2 2
Big 12 6 11–13 .458 4 1
MVC 1 4–2 .667 1 1
Big South 1 3–2 .600 1 1
WCC 2 5–4 .556 2
Colonial 2 3–4 .429 1
Big East 2 1–4 .200
Sun Belt 2 1–4 .200
Other 18 8–36 .182 1

The columns RF, SR, WS, NS, CS, and NC respectively stand for the regional finals, super regionals, College World Series teams, national semifinals, championship series, and national champion.

Tournament notes

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  • Oregon State was not invited to the NCAA tournament, marking the first time since 1991 that the defending champion did not return to the following year's tourney (Georgia).
  • Clemson was not invited to the NCAA tournament, breaking a streak of consecutive appearances for the Tigers that dated back to the 1987 season.
  • Dallas Baptist made its first appearance. DBU was the first independent institution to qualify for the Division I tourney (other than Miami (Fla.), which kept an independent schedule during its years in the Big East) since Cal State Northridge did so in 1992.
  • Michigan was the only non-#1-seed selected to host a regional, forcing #1 seed Arizona to play an away regional, as the NCAA organizing committee said it was trying to maintain geographical balance with the host sites.[2]

Round 1

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  • Four No. 1 seeded regional host schools, out of 16 total, lost first-round games to No. 4 seeds:
    • Georgia 7, Lipscomb 10
    • Stanford 2, UC Davis 4
    • Florida St. 0, Bucknell 7
    • Long Beach St. 3, Fresno State 7
  • Five No. 3 seeds upset No. 2 seeds in the opening round.

Round 2

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  • Fresno State was the only #4 seed to register wins in the first two rounds of the tournament.
  • Tulane was the only #3 seed to register wins in the first two rounds of the tournament.
  • 9 of the 16 #1 seeds registered wins in the first two rounds of the tournament.

Super regionals

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  • Six of the eight national seeds advanced to the College World Series. Only #3 seed Arizona State and #5 seed Cal State Fullerton were unable to make it past super regionals.
  • Fresno State became the first team in the history of the NCAA tournament to make it to the College World Series as a #4 regional seed.

CWS records tied or broken

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  • Most runs scored in an inning: 11 (tied)(Stanford, 9th inning, Game 1 against Florida State)
  • Most runners left on base in a nine-inning game: 17 (tied) (Florida State, Game 5 against Miami)
  • Most doubles hit by a player: 3 (tied) by Rich Poythress Georgia against Stanford, Game 11.
  • Most losses by a team who won the College World Series: 31 (Fresno State)
  • Lowest seed to win the College World Series: #4 regional seed, #89 RPI (Fresno State)

Television/radio/online coverage

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Regionals

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Super regionals

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

College World Series

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References

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  1. ^ https://www.ncaa.com/baseball/article.aspx?id=91408[permanent dead link]
  2. ^ "Registration Required". Archived from the original on May 28, 2008. Retrieved May 27, 2008.

See also

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