The most dizzying of the Bulldogs' performances came Tuesday night, when they turned a five-run deficit against Georgia into a nine-run lead in a matter of three innings.
Fresno State's 19-10 victory forced a deciding Game 3 on Wednesday night in the College World Series finals.
``This club has a lot of heart,'' coach Mike Batesole said. ``I keep saying that because it's true.''
Now this No. 4 regional seed, which wouldn't have made the NCAA tournament without winning the Western Athletic Conference, is in position to become the fifth straight non-national seed to win the championship.
Fresno State (46-31), which opened the CWS with a 17-5 win over Rice, has scored 56 runs in six games in Omaha. That's the second-most runs in CWS history behind the 62 by Southern California in six games in 1998.
``Fresno State had the merry-go-round or circus going, whatever you want to call it,'' Georgia shortstop Gordon Beckham said. ``They were going around the bases all night. Anybody who ever thinks they're out of it is crazy.''
Fresno State had a season-high 19 hits, and its 19 runs were second to the 24 it scored at New Mexico State in April. Having staved off elimination five times in the NCAA tournament, the Bulldogs will try to do it one more time to win the school's first championship.
``This team has been going and going and going, and they're going to go for nine more innings,'' Batesole said.
Georgia, the No. 8 national seed, will send Nathan Moreau (4-3) to the mound against Justin Wilson (8-5) in the final.
Tommy Mendonca put Fresno State in front with his record-tying fourth homer of the CWS in his team's six-run third inning.
Fresno State scored five runs in the fourth and four more in the fifth to trip up a Georgia team that appeared on the verge of sweeping through the CWS to its second national title and first since 1990.
Fresno State wouldn't let its incredible season end that way, not on this night. Rather, the Bulldogs scored the most runs against a Georgia team since Tennessee's 19-12 win in the 2001 CWS 435 games ago.
Before Tuesday, Fresno State hadn't come back from more than four runs down to win this season.
Georgia coach David Perno tried to keep a sense of humor in defeat.
``We had a tough time defending the post pattern across the middle. It's killing us,'' he said. ``And then that late extra point.''
Considering what's at stake, Perno said, it should be easy for his players to quickly forget Game 2.
``This is for everything we've worked for, and it comes down to (Wednesday),'' he said. ``There is no other team I would want in our dugout other than this team. It's a one-shot deal.''
Known as the ``Wonderdogs'' around here, Fresno State displayed more of the moxie that has carried them further than any No. 4 regional seed had gone before.
Fresno State batted around in the third inning and sent 10 to the plate in the fourth. Mendonca's three-run homer put the Bulldogs ahead 6-5, and Steve Susdorf's two-run shot in the fifth made it 15-6.
The six-run third wasn't even Fresno State's most productive inning of the CWS. It had a seven-run outburst against Rice in the fourth inning of a 17-5 victory.
``I got lucky,'' Mendonca said of his blast.
Georgia, which rallied for four eighth-inning runs to Fresno State 7-6 in Game 1 of the finals, jumped on Justin Miller.
Miller, who lasted four innings and got a no-decision in a 5-3 win over North Carolina earlier in the CWS, lasted only 2 2-3 innings.
Three of Georgia's first four batters singled. Rich Poythress drove in a run, and after Matt Cerione was intentionally walked to load the bases, Joey Lewis hit a two-run single up the middle. Poythress' sacrifice fly in the second and David Thomas' RBI single in the third finished off Miller.
The big start didn't lull Georgia into complacency, Beckham said.
``It was too early,'' he said. ``We weren't caught off guard. It's not like we let down. We were in the dugout saying we have a lot of time left and they're a good team.
``They beat us straight up. We were not fooled. They took us over. We were ready, and they just hit. It was their night.''
Georgia starter Nick Montgomery held Fresno State to one hit the first two innings.
``The biggest thing was that there was no sense of panic,'' Susdorf said. ``Nobody was in the dugout panicking, say, 'Oh, my, we're down 5-0 and we might not play tomorrow.' It was, 'Keep taking good bat-bats, get runners on base and make good things happen.'''
Steve Detwiler singled and scored on a wild pitch for Fresno State's first run and Susdorf followed with a bases-loaded, two-run single to chase Montgomery.
After Stephen Dodson (5-5) got Alan Ahmady to fly out, Mendonca launched a first-pitch homer for the lead.
Georgia scored four runs against Holden Sprague (6-2) in the seventh to pull within five runs, but Fresno State responded with three more in the bottom half.
Batesole and his players sat stone-faced at the postgame news conference.
``The time to celebrate,'' second baseman Erik Wetzel said, ``will be after.''
The Georgia Bulldogs and Fresno State Bulldogs play tonight to decide the College World Series title in Omaha, Neb. / photo: University of Georgia sports communications
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