Fresno State's improbable postseason run will end in the College World Series championship round after Tommy Mendonca drove in four runs and Clayton Allison overcame a shoulder ailment to shut down North Carolina, 6-1, Sunday night in Omaha.
"If you look where we started out," closer Brandon Burke said, "where we're at now is inconceivable."
Allison (4-5), out since the second game of the super-regional because of tendinitis in his right (throwing) shoulder, gave up only Dustin Ackley's double to start the game and five singles. The only run against him came when he issued a bases-loaded walk in the fourth. He struck out six and walked three.
A Fresno State team (45-30) that became the first No. 4 regional-seeded team to reach the CWS now finds itself matched against Georgia (44-23-1) in the best-of-three championship series starting today. Fresno State joins clubs such as Eastern Michigan in 1976, Wichita State in 1982 and Pepperdine in 1992 as surprise finalists.
North Carolina (54-14), the No. 2-seeded team nationally and CWS runner-up the last two years, was denied a third straight appearance in the finals.
Neither Fresno State nor Georgia has an overly impressive record, and no team with more than 23 losses has won a national title.
OLYMPICS
Wilkinson lands on third U.S. diving team
With the first perfect dive of her career, Laura Wilkinson, 30, clinched a third -- and final -- trip to the Olympics, holding off teenage phenom Haley Ishimatsu in 10-meter platform at the U.S. diving trials in Indianapolis.
Wilkinson's triumph notwithstanding, youth was served on the final day.
David Boudia, 19, beat Thomas Finchum, 18, his close friend and longtime training partner, in a battle of 10s on the men's platform.
Wilkinson totaled 1,214.50 points over three rounds. Ishimatsu, who probably will be selected for the second 10-meter spot at a camp that begins next week in Knoxville, Tenn., was second with 1,140.40.
Boudia heads to Beijing with the look of a potential star, having finished third in the Olympic pool during a World Cup meet in February. The U.S. men have not won an Olympic gold on platform since Greg Louganis captured his second straight at the 1988 Seoul Games.
Boudia finished with 1,642.20 points, and Finchum had 1,583.50 despite receiving 10s on three of his six dives.
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