After a disappointing season opener Friday night, the Fresno State baseball team was finally able to salvage something and split a doubleheader with the UC-Davis Aggies Saturday.
Game 1
The Fresno State baseball team repeated its performance from Friday night’s opener – which wasn’t a good thing.
Fresno State was not able to capitalize offensively with runners in scoring position and lost its second game of the season by a score of 3-1.
UC-Davis catcher Jake Jeffries picked up right where he left off in Friday night̢۪s game, batting 3 for 4 with two RBI.
He drove in UC-Davis̢۪ first run in the top of the third inning. Jeffries smacked a single into right field to score Ryan Royster from second base to put the Aggies up 1-0.
Royster went 3 for 4 in the game with a run scored.
The Aggies added a run in the fifth inning on a sacrifice fly by Matt Dempsey that scored Rikki Foster to put Davis up 2-0.
Jeffries struck again in the top of the fifth with his second RBI of the game. He roped a single up the middle to add to the Aggies lead 3-0.
The Bulldogs rallied with two outs in the bottom half of the fifth inning with consecutive hits from freshmen Trent Soares and Danny Muno. But Erik Wetzel struck out to end the potential threat.
Preseason Pitcher of the Year Clayton Allison pitched seven innings in his 2008 debut and picked up the loss. He gave up three runs on eight hits, struck out two and walked none.
The Bulldogs threatened again in the bottom of the eighth with consecutive hits to lead off the inning, but were unable to capitalize.
Third baseman Tom Mendonca grounded out with the bases loaded and two outs to end the inning.
The Bulldogs scored their only run in the bottom of the ninth on a ground ball from Steve Detwiler that scored Blake Amador.
Game 2
It took until Saturday night, but the Fresno State Bulldogs were finally able to muster some offense with runners on base to pick up their first win of the season.
A couple big hits and near-flawless pitching combined to propel the Bulldogs to 7-0 victory over UC-Davis in the second game of Saturday̢۪s doubleheader.
Starting pitcher Tanner Scheppers made the UC-Davis Aggies look foolish. He threw seven innings of shutout ball, allowing only four hits and striking out 10 batters.
Several scouts were at the game clocking Scheppers with radar guns and said he was throwing over 90 miles per hour. His fastball, slider and changeup kept the UC-Davis hitters off balance.
Shortstop Todd Sandell highlighted a game that was all-Bulldogs with a three-run homer to the deepest part of the ballpark in center field – over 400 feet.
Fresno State was got things going right from the start. Steve Detwiler drew a walk to force home a run to put the Bulldogs up 1-0 in the first inning.
But like the two previous games, the Bulldogs were not able to capitalize with the bases loaded.
Freshman Jake Johnson struck out with the bases loaded in his first collegiate at-bat to end the first.
In the fifth inning, the Bulldogs left the bases loaded a second time. After base hits from Steve Susdorf, Alan Ahmady and Danny Muno, the Bulldogs next two batters were retired.
The Bulldogs finally got some situational hitting and it came in the form of Detwiler. In the bottom of the third, he scorched a double down the left field line to score two runners and put the Dogs up 3-0.
Sandell̢۪s homer and a RBI single from freshman Trent Soares in the seventh inning made the score 7-0.
Scheppers, Holden Sprague and Brandon Burke combined to throw a four-hit shutout.