NCAA® 2007 Men's College World Series - Omaha, Nebraska

OMAHA, Neb. – Rich Poythress was 4-for-5, including three doubles, and had four RBI as the eighth-seeded Georgia Bulldogs advanced to the 2008 Men’s College World Series Championship Finals with a 10-8 victory over Stanford Saturday.

The Bulldogs did have to withstand a two-out Stanford rally in the ninth. After an RBI single by pinch hitter Colin Walsh, pinch hitter Ben Clowe hit a three-run home run to cut the margin to 10-8.  Georgia reliever Josh Fields got Cord Phelps to fly out to center for the final out of the inning to send the Bulldogs into the Championship Finals for the first time since winning the national title in 1990.

Stanford’s season ends at 41-24-2 while Georgia (44-23-1) advances to play either Fresno State or North Carolina at 6 p.m. (Central) Monday. 

The Bulldogs did most of their damage in the second, third, fourth and fifth innings by scoring in each frame for a total of nine runs.

In the second, Poythress led off the inning with a double and scored on an RBI single by Joey Lewis.  In the third, a Poythress double drove home Ryan Peisel and put runners on second and third with one out. After an intentional walk, Lewis added a two-RBI single to give Georgia a 4-0 lead.

Stanford scored a run in the bottom of the third but Georgia again answered with two in the top of the fourth.  Back-to-back singles by Miles Starr and Peisel to lead off the inning allowed a Poythress single to score two and stretch the Georgia lead to 6-1. 

A run-scoring triple by Phelps and a wild pitch helped Stanford cut the lead to 6-3 but Peisel’s three-run homer in the fifth seemed to put the game out of reach at 9-3. 

In addition to Poythress, Peisel was 3-for-5 with home run, three RBI and three runs scored.

Remaining CWS Schedule
Saturday, June 21, 2008
Game 12 – Fresno St. vs. #2 North Carolina, 6 p.m. (Central)

Sunday, June 22, 2008
**Game 13 – Fresno St. vs. #2 North Carolina, 6 p.m. (Central)

Monday, June 23, 2008
MCWS Championship Finals Game 1 – Georgia vs. Fresno St./North Carolina, 6 p.m. (Central)

Tuesday, June 24, 2008
MCWS Championship Finals Game 2 – Georgia vs. Fresno St./North Carolina, 6 p.m. (Central)

Wednesday, June 25, 2008
**MCWS Championship Finals Game 3 – Georgia vs. Fresno St./North Carolina, 6 p.m. (Central)