Dogs advance to College World Series

ATHENS - Gordon Beckham homered twice and Georgia scored nine first-inning runs in a 17-8 victory Sunday over North Carolina State that gave the Bulldogs a College World Series berth for the third time in five years.

Georgia (41-23-1), which has won six of seven, improved to 16-0 in NCAA elimination games at Foley Field.

N.C. State (42-22) was trying to advance to the College World Series for the second time in school history and the first since 1968.

Beckham's 26th homer marked the sixth time this season that he's hit two. The Number eight overall draft pick by the Chicago White Sox and the Southeastern
Conference Player of the Year, Beckham finished 3-for-4 with four RBIs.

Ryan Peisel, Bryce Massanari and Joey Lewis also homered for Georgia. The Bulldogs, winners of the SEC regular season title, will play the Arizona-Miami winner next week in Omaha, Nebraska.

Nick Montgomery (4-2) won his second straight start as he and three other Bulldog pitchers held N.C. State to nine hits.

Closer Joshua Fields, the No. 20 overall draft pick by the Seattle Mariners, had a messy ninth, loading the bases before Matt Payne's two-run single ended the scoring.

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