File photo by Joseph Edgecomb / The Collegian
The Fresno State baseball team has proven they can win at Pete Beiden Field, but will need to improve on its 3-10 road record this weekend in a Western Athletic Conference (WAC) showdown with New Mexico State.
Fresno State will head into Las Cruces for a four-game series starting tonight at 5:05 p.m. Pacific Time.
The Bulldogs are in first place in the WAC with a 9-3 conference record, coming off a four-game sweep of Louisiana Tech last weekend in Fresno.
New Mexico State is in sixth place in the conference with a 5-7 mark. The Aggies lost their conference series last weekend to Hawaii three games to one.
File photo by Joseph Edgecomb / The Collegian
The Bulldogs swept the Aggies in last season̢۪s three-game series, but lost to them 13-8 in last month̢۪s Pepsi-Johnny Quik Tournament in Fresno.
Three Bulldog pitchers made new career-highs in strikeouts last weekend. Justin Wilson struck out 11 batters, Justin Miller fanned nine and Tanner Scheppers sat down 12.
Scheppers now leads the nation in strikeouts with 76.
Fresno State will need a repeat performance from its pitching staff this weekend in hitter-friendly Presley Askew Field.
New Mexico State leads the conference with 354 runs scored and is second with a .301 batting average.
Senior left fielder Joseph Scaperotta powers the Aggies̢۪ offense. He leads the conference with 15 home runs, 50 RBI and a .724 slugging percentage.
Junior first baseman Chris Austen leads the WAC with 52 hits and his .364 batting average is fifth-best in conference.
But, despite the enormous offensive numbers for the Aggies, their pitching staff has been suspect this season.
The Aggies̢۪ pitching staff owns a league-worst 7.47 ERA and have given up a conference-high 336 runs this season.
The anchor of the Aggie pitching staff is junior Tyler Sturdevant.
He is 4-3 this season with a 3.09 ERA and a team-high 29 strikeouts.
His counterpart in the starting rotation, junior right-hander Heath Goin, is 4-1 for the Aggies and has a 5.23 ERA.
Fresno State̢۪s offense shouldn̢۪t have trouble scoring runs against the lowly Aggies̢۪ pitching staff.
Sophomore Alan Ahmady is ranked as the 14th-best first baseman in the country by rivals.com.
He is leading the Bulldogs offensively with a .380 batting average, 43 RBI and seven home runs.
Senior left fielder Steve Susdorf is hitting .331 and is currently on a 13-game hitting streak.
The key for Fresno State̢۪s success this weekend is preventing the games from turning into slug fests.
If the Bulldogs continue to pitch well and play good defense, they should be able to stop the potent Aggie offense.
The second game of Saturday̢۪s doubleheader and Sunday̢۪s game can be heard on KMJ-AM 580 radio.
Tonight̢۪s game and Saturday̢۪s first game can be followed on Gametracker.