Fresno St. continues unlikely run

OMAHA, Neb. – A Fresno State team that struggled to make it to the College World Series rewarded itself with an easy win in its first game here.

Danny Muno, Alan Ahmady and Jordan Ribera launched three-run homers and the Bulldogs’ amazing postseason run continued Sunday with a stunning 17-5 victory over Rice.

The Bulldogs – the ultimate underdogs as the first No. 4 regional seed to reach Omaha – broke open the game with a seven-run fourth inning.

They didn’t stop there, rolling up the highest number of runs allowed by Rice this season on their way to their 12th win in 14 games.

Fresno overcame an 8-12 start and a long road through the NCAA tournament to win a CWS bid for the first time since 1991. The Bulldogs won a tough regional at Long Beach State and a three-game super regional at No. 3 national seed Arizona State.

They showed Sunday that they belong among the final eight teams after scoring the most runs in a CWS game since Tennessee beat Georgia 19-12 in 2001.

Fresno (43-29) will play Tuesday night against North Carolina.

Fresno’s big offensive day came against a Rice pitching staff that ranked fifth nationally with a 3.63 ERA and had given up just 38 homers in 60 games.

North Carolina 8, LSU 4

At Omaha, Alex White kept LSU’s potent offense mostly under wraps for seven-plus innings and Kyle Seager, Seth Williams and Ryan Graepel had three hits apiece to lead North Carolina to victory over the Tigers. White gave up home runs to Michael Hollander and Matt Clark leading off the first and second innings, then allowed only two singles the rest of the way. The Tar Heels (52-12), are the national runner-up the past two years.