Allison, Wonderdogs keep hope alive

Just when you thought there was no good news coming out of the West Coast baseball scene, along comes Clayton Allison and the Fresno State Underdogs Bulldogs.
Fresno State right-handed pitcher Clayton Allison, a Dodgers draft pick who battled shoulder tendonitis throughout the postseason, shut down North Carolina on Sunday and sent the Bulldogs to the College World Series championship series.
Allison (4-5) hadn’t pitched since Game 2 of the Super Regionals because of the sore right wing but allowed only a leadoff double and five singles in the 6-1 victory.
The 29th-round pick would’ve notched a shutout if not for a bases-loaded walk in the fourth inning, striking out six and walking three.
Now Allison isn’t a sure-fire big leaguer by any stretch, but he’s got the Bulldogs feeling like they’re underdogs no longer. And as BG will tell you, those left-for-dead Dodgers could use a couple gamers like Allison in their dugout.
“It was a gutsy performance when we needed one the most,” Bulldogs coach Mike Batesole said. “That was a mental win. It didn’t have much to do with what he had physically. That was a mental battle, and he won it.”
The Bulldogs (45-30), the first No. 4 regional seed to make any kind of run like this in the CWS, faces Georgia (44-23-1) in a best-of-three series beginning Monday.