Joseph Edgecomb / The Collegian
The old baseball mantra is that pitching and defense wins ballgames.
In this weekend’s four-game series against Louisiana Tech, Fresno State had the pitching and Louisiana Tech dropped the ball on defense — literally.
Fresno State swept Louisiana Tech 4-0 this past weekend to improve their Western Athletic Conference (WAC) record to 9-3.
With the sweep, and a 2-1 Sacramento State loss yesterday afternoon, the Bulldogs moved into first place in the WAC.
Louisiana Tech committed a total of 10 errors in four games against the Bulldogs. Fresno State scored 42 runs, 11 of which were the result of poor defense from Louisiana Tech.
Coach Mike Batesole said that his team̢۪s timely hits and ability to take advantage of poor defense was a difference maker.
“They made some mistakes, but they’re not mistakes unless we touch home and make them pay for them,â€Â Batesole said.
But Fresno State did more than capitalize on errors, they delivered offensively at the plate with key hits.
Sophomore first baseman Alan Ahmady continued his hot streak, going 8-for-17 this weekend at the plate with eight RBI and two home runs. Ahmady homered twice in Fresno State̢۪s 11-1, mercy rule victory Saturday night.
Ahmady hit a game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning of Saturday̢۪s first game, giving the Bulldogs̢۪ a 9-8 victory.
“There was no way I was going to get beat,â€Â Ahmady said. “When we win like that, it puts an [exclamation point] on it.â€Â
Senior left fielder Steve Susdorf contributed with nine RBI this weekend. He moved into second place all-time on the Fresno State career RBI leaders list with 169.
Fresno State didn̢۪t need much offensive support, though, due to the standout pitching performances from its starting rotation.
Three of the four Bulldog starters reached career-highs in strikeouts this weekend.
In Friday night̢۪s game Justin Wilson (3-4) struck out 11 batters, despite giving up a grand slam in the first inning.
“It was little bit of a roller coaster,â€Â Wilson said. “I know our hitters are there though and they’re going to score runs for us so I had confidence in them. You just got to go back out there and keep throwing.â€Â
Junior right-hander Tanner Scheppers (5-2) also benefited from great run support Saturday night, but didn̢۪t need it.
Scheppers left Louisiana Tech̢۪s batters baffled at the plate, mixing up his 96 mph fastball with a devastating slider that no one could touch.
He struck out 12 batters, a career-high, and only surrendered three hits in his first-ever complete game.
“Our offense made it easy on me and the defense made amazing plays,â€Â Scheppers said. “We kept the energy up and were able to pull through in the second game.â€Â
Rounding out the weekend for the Bulldogs was junior Justin Miller, who threw six shutout innings and only allowed two hits.
Miller (5-0) struck out a career-high nine batters, but said he struck out 15 batters when he played at Ridgeview High School in Bakersfield.
Miller has quietly put together an impressive season as Fresno State̢۪s No. 4 starter. He leads the conference and is in the top 10 of the nation with a 1.12 ERA.
He credits his success to pitching coach Mike Mayne.
“He’s gotten me on track and able to throw more strikes and have more command,â€Â Miller said. “I was having arm trouble last year, but he fixed that right away and helped me with keeping the ball low in the zone.â€Â
Miller transferred to Fresno State this season after playing two years at Bakersfield College where he was drafted by the Colorado Rockies.
Junior catcher Danny Grubb caught all four games this weekend and was impressed with his pitching staff̢۪s ability to quiet a potent Louisiana Tech lineup.
“The pitchers executed outstanding this weekend,â€Â Grubb said. “We knew we were going to have to play defense and pitch well and we did that.â€Â
Batesole recognizes that his team has a lot of conference games left and isn̢۪t looking too far ahead.
“This win might have been the difference between having to win two or three the last weekend in [Sacramento],â€Â Batesole said. “From the teams I’ve seen there’s not much of a difference between them. Any one of them can beat you at any time.â€Â