2008 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament
| Season | 2008 |
|---|---|
| Teams | 64 |
| Finals Site | |
| Champions | Fresno State (1st title) |
| Runner-Up | Georgia (6th CWS Appearance) |
| Winning coach | Mike Batesole (1st title) |
| MOP | Tommy Mendonca Fresno State |
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.
The 2008 tournament culminated with 8 teams advancing to the College World Series at historic Rosenblatt Stadium in Omaha, Nebraska on June 14.
On June 25, 2008, the Fresno State Bulldogs beat the Georgia Bulldogs, 6-1, to win the NCAA Men's Division I Baseball Championship. Fresno State was the lowest seeded team (4th in Regional) to win the National Championship in NCAA History.
The Series was won by Fresno State, who became the lowest ranked team ever to win an NCAA Baseball Championship, 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 the second National Championship for Fresno State following the 1998 NCAA Women's College Softball team.
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.
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