By Gene Schinzel

The Hutchinson News

WICHITA -- All the elements California Irvine displayed Saturday -- spectacular starting pitching, execution with runners on base and solid defense -- were showcased again Sunday.

But what won the Anteaters their first College World Series berth was their resiliency.

After a controversial call aided the Shockers in tying the score in the top of the ninth inning, Bryan Peterson laced an RBI double in the bottom of the inning to give Irvine a 3-2 victory at Eck Stadium and the Wichita super regional title.

"I really need to wake up from this dream, but I'm not ready to stop dreaming," Irvine coach Dave Serrano said. "The resiliency of this team showed in the bottom of the ninth inning. There's probably been a lot of teams that have come into Eck Stadium and crumbled late in the game, but we refused to give in."

Irvine takes a 45-15-1 record to Omaha for the College World Series, which starts Friday. Wichita State ends its season at 53-21, suffering another heartbreaking postseason loss.

"This team really played with great heart," Wichita State coach Gene Stephenson said. "I'm very proud of our guys."

Stephenson had watched his team lose one-run games in regional finals on the road in 2004 and 2006. The Shockers rallied to win regionals this season by winning four straight, but Sunday's loss was WSU's fourth one-run postseason defeat this spring. This season, 12 of WSU's 22 losses were by one run. Sunday's game featured plenty of late-inning heroics, starting with the Shockers.

After Derek Schermerhorn opened the ninth with a single, Damon Sublett hit a chopper to shortstop Ben Orloff. Orloff's throw was off line and forced first baseman Taylor Holiday to stretch to make the catch.

Sublett initially was called out by first base umpire Jack Cox, but after arguments from WSU first base coach Jim Thomas and Stephenson, the call overturned.

"I thought he was clearly off the base," Stephenson said. "I just asked him to ask for help because surely as obvious as that was, somebody else would have the angle on it. The right call was made and we capitalized on it."

The Shockers capitalized with two outs and the bases loaded. That's when junior Tyler Hill hit a shot through the right side of the infield, tying the score. That ended a stretch of 212Ñ3 scoreless innings for the WSU offense, dating back to the regional final against Arizona.

"I just tried to picture the situation I might have, tried to keep my anxiety down and find a good pitch to hit," Hill said.

The two-run single swung the momentum WSU's way as its home crowd came to life. But within a few minutes, Cal Irvine, which won 1-0 Saturday behind an eighth-inning single, stunned the crowd.

After leadoff batter Cody Cipriano flew out to the warning track against starter Rob Musgrave, Stephenson brought in reliever Anthony Capra.

Capra was 7-0 with a 1.64 ERA before Sunday. But Matt Morris greeted him with a single to center. Morris went to second on a wild pitch, and then Petersen hit a 2-2 fastball into the right-center field gap over the head of right fielder Matt Brown.

Morris scored without a play at the plate and Petersen was mobbed by his teammates near second base.

"I just wanted to battle and put the ball in play so we could have a chance to score," Petersen said.

The wild ninth inning overshadowed a pitcher's duel between Irvine's Wes Etheridge and Musgrave.

Etheridge had the Shockers shackled for seven innings. He retired 22 of the first 24 batters he faced, including 17 straight at one point.

Thirteen of WSU's first 17 batters hit into groundouts. Etheridge, who was a 12th-round draft pick by Milwaukee on Friday, finished the day with 17 groundouts in 81Ñ3 innings.

"From the third inning on, we talked to the players as a team about his sinker going low and away from left-handed batters and going down and in to right-handers," Stephenson said. "I told team to do things I've never told them before. I actually told them to swing under the ball. We were still hitting ground balls."

Musgrave was just as sharp, allowing one earned run and five hits in 81Ñ3 innings.

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