June 21, 2008

2008 College World Series

Day Seven Notes

This was the first repeat matchup in the 2008 College World Series. The Tar Heels defeated the Tigers 8-4 on Sunday evening the opening game for both teams before UNC claimed a 7-3 win on Friday.

This was UNC’s first elimination game during the 2008 NCAA Tournament.

UNC lost consecutive games only once this season. The Tar Heels lost to Georgia Tech 4-1 on April 6 and fell 2-0 to Elon on April 8, both home contests.

LSU was 3-0 in elimination games this year in the NCAA Tournament before Friday’s loss. The Tigers had two wins over UC Irvine in the Baton Rouge Super Regional after dropping the opener. LSU defeated Rice on Tuesday after falling to UNC in its CWS opener.

The crowd of 30,422 set a CWS single-session record. The previous high was 26,887 on June 23, 2007, with Oregon State vs. North Carolina. It was the second-highest crowd in Division I history. There were 40,106 fans for Houston and San Diego State at PETCO Park in San Diego on March 11, 2004.

The grand slam by Tim Federowicz was the first in the CWS since June 11, 2001, when David Coffey belted a grand slam for Georgia against Tennessee. It was the 45th grand slam in CWS history There were 280 bases-loaded appearances between grand slams.

Of the final four teams remaining in the College World Series, two are from California. The last time two West Coast teams played for the national title was in 1998, when USC outscored Arizona State 21-14. The last time two teams from the state of California played for the National Championship, Cal State Fullerton topped USC 11-5 in 1995.

There has never been an ACC-SEC matchup for the national title.

UNC had to go through the losers’ bracket a year ago to reach the Championship Series. The Tar Heels lost to Rice 14-4 in the second round before beating Louisville and Rice twice to reach the Championship Series.

Georgia has not played since Monday evening and Fresno State has been idle since Tuesday.

Georgia is 3-3 all-time against Stanford, including 3-2 at the College World Series. The Bulldogs defeated the Cardinal 4-3 on Monday.

The last time Georgia went 2-0 in Omaha was in 1990, when the Bulldogs blanked Mississippi State and defeated Stanford on its way to the National Championship.

Georgia’s bullpen is 2-0 with a save and a 0.82 ERA in 11 innings. It has allowed one run with four walks and nine strikeouts.