Under a bright Hawaiian sun, lightning struck twice for Fresno State.

Sophomore first baseman Jordan Ribera popped a pair of go-ahead, two-run home runs to help Fresno State sweep stunned New Mexico State, 9-7 and 5-3, yesterday to capture its fourth consecutive Western Athletic Conference baseball crown.

The third-seeded Bulldogs (32-28), who needed to win 3 of 4 in their last regular-season WAC series at Sacramento State to qualify for the tournament (they swept the Hornets), will learn this morning which NCAA Regional they will be attending to begin defense of their College World Series title.

"We've been in this position before, the underdog," Ribera said. "It just fuels the fire for us, gets us excited to come out here and show people that we are a good team and that we deserve the one seed or the two seed or whatever. We don't pay attention to all that stuff. We just come out here to play baseball because that's what we're here to do."

With the host Rainbows eliminated the day before by the Bulldogs, a not surprising sparse crowd of 532 at Les Murakami Stadium saw the fourth-seeded Aggies left in agony by Ribera's homers. Despite their 44-17 record, the Aggies are not expected to land an at-large berth because of a Ratings Percentage Index of 144 entering yesterday's games (per boydsworld.com).

Hollywood couldn't write a better script for Ribera, a left-handed hitter who entered the tournament with a .113 batting average and two home runs among his six hits.

He replaced three-year starter Alan Ahmady, not just at first base, but in the cleanup spot despite the presence of FSU career home run king Tom Mendonca (27 homers this season) and Dusty Robinson (14 homers). Ahmady was suspended from the team before the tournament for violating school rules.

Ahmady (.326, 8 HRs, 53 RBIs) was on last year's all-tournament team in Ruston, La. Ribera, after hitting the second home run, became the last-minute choice as this year's tournament MVP.

"Those are really big shoes to fill," Ribera said of Ahmady. "He's my best friend, actually. It's a bummer to lose him. He's such a vital part of our lineup."

Fresno State coach Mike Batesole had no doubts about Ribera, who was 8 for 17 in the tournament.

"Every single day he takes ground balls like it's the most important one of the year," Batesole said. "He takes his swings every day. He knows he's not going to play. Gets his work done every single day. He keeps a chart every game for nine innings, helping the other infielders out.

"Every time he came out, the whole dugout was electric because they want him to do well. You can feel it and we were willing it to happen and when he does it, it's very special. He hit some big home runs for us last year in Omaha, too."

Ribera hit home runs against Rice and Georgia in last year's College World Series.

"Today, we had a lot of business to take care of and we did it," Ribera said. "Everybody did their part and we got what we came here to get done, we won the WAC tournament. It was a business trip and we took care of it."

After three days, the Aggies were the sole unbeaten team at 3-0 left in the double-elimination tournament and needed to win just once yesterday to claim their first league crown since becoming a WAC member in 2006. The Bulldogs lost to the Aggies in their opening-round game Thursday, 7-4. Ironically, it came on a three-run home run by reserve Steven Anderson in the top of the ninth inning.

But in yesterday's opener, FSU slowly chipped away at a 7-2 deficit after five innings. Ribera singled and scored in a two-run sixth that made it 7-4. He did the same in a three-run eighth that tied it at 7.

Then, with two outs in the top of the ninth, Mendonca singled to left and Ribera followed with an opposite-field homer to left off Justin Cooper (2-1). Holden Sprague (7-4) pitched into and out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the bottom of the ninth by retiring Leo Aguirre on a fly to center and getting Kyle Decater on a game-ending double play grounder to second to force the playoff.

Although the playoff was each team's fifth game of the tournament, it was a pitchers' duel, instead of a slugfest with wilting arms.

This time, the Bulldogs saw their 3-1 lead after six disappear when three singles and two errors, including one by Ribera, gave the Aggies two unearned runs to tie the score at 3.

But in the bottom of the eighth, NMSU starter Daniel Simon, who allowed three runs in seven innings and threw a combined 200 pitches in a four-day period, gave way to Tyler Sturdevant.

Danny Muno led off with a single, but was forced at second when Dusty Robinson reached on a fielder's choice on a failed sacrifice attempt. Robinson went to third when Mendonca grounded out to the pitcher. On a 2-1 count, Ribera hammered Sturdevant's pitch out to center.

"The second game, I had two pretty crucial errors at first base," Ribera said. "Our third base coach said, 'Hey, you're going to get a chance to do something with the stick.' I was able to get a fastball up in the zone and just try to get the runner in at second, it just happened to go over the center-field fence."

The homers capped an incredible WAC season for the Bulldogs, who have a lot more big games ahead.

"We're going to continue throughout the regional and we'll see what we can do from there," Mendonca said.

NOTE

Hawai'i catcher Kevin Fujii was named to the all-tournament team.