The Fresno State baseball team opened its season at home this weekend. Yes, I know you knew that, but in the event someone just got back from a NASA tour of the moon, I didn̢۪t think I could take a chance.

In any event, this blog is all-inclusive, with some details for the fringe fan and some nuts and bolts for the baseball diehard.

Read Part 1.

Part 2: Just baseball
If there was one thing the “expertsâ€Â knew coming into the season, it was that Fresno State would hit but struggle on the mound. Well, it didn’t quite work out that way in the Bulldogs’ opening series with Washington. In fact, in two of the three games, the opposite held true.

Fresno State came out of the series with a .221 average, far from where it could and should be. This team has the potential to hit at a .310 clip or better this year, depending on freshmen production.

On a side note, how about those sweet-looking red helmets the team busted out this weekend? That̢۪s been a long-awaited addition.

Returning back to the main road, if you know anything about the recent history of Fresno State baseball, you know about the slow starts the team usually gets off to. It̢۪s usually at the Pepsi-Johnny Quik Classic where things get rolling. But with a somewhat weak non-conference schedule this year, a slow start would mean bad news for postseason play.

In any event, allow me to break down what we saw (on the field) this weekend at Beiden Field:

̢ۢ Danny Muno made an appearance as a switch-hitter and was impressive in doing so. His ability to make consistent contact and use the opposite field makes him a dynamic threat.

̢ۢ Steve Detwiler is an absolute blast to watch in all areas, including his hustle, monster swing and throwing ability. That is a big league cannon out in right field. And he will hit this year.

̢ۢ Danny Grubb hit the ball hard all weekend, but couldn̢۪t get anything to show for it.

̢ۢ Fellow catcher Trent Garrison is great defensively behind the plate. His twin brother Taylor came in and showed a fantastic curveball in his one inning of work on the mound.

̢ۢ You can tell Tommy Mendonca worked on his balance and approach at the plate in the offseason, though he sometimes gets caught in an all-arm swing.

̢ۢ Jake Johnson is turning into the promising hitter he was touted as coming into the program. He should develop some power fairly soon to go with a solid approach.

̢ۢ Holden Sprague was Holden Sprague. Great command and uses his changeup very well. A good fastball-changeup combo is pretty lethal, and he̢۪s got it.

• Jake Floethe showed remarkable control on the mound after a 2008 that was nothing short of “Wild Thing.â€Â It was impressive to see such a turnaround.

̢ۢ Derek Benny is the real deal with his stuff. Low- to mid-90s fastball and dirty offspeed stuff.

̢ۢ Finally, Dusty Robinson has big-time bat written all over him. He will go through some slumps and hot streaks this year. He̢۪ll be an impact guy in left field.

What do we take from this? Well, the weekend overall didn̢۪t go as expected, but it didn̢۪t need to. With so many newcomers on the mound for Bulldogs, the team will need to begin hitting consistently soon. It is unrealistic to expect the pitching to continue at this level for the long run. Scoring some runs will take some pressure off those young pitchers and allow them to adjust sooner than later.

The two down points for me were the suspension of Alan Ahmady and the bench role of Nick Hom. Ahmady was suspended five games for an unidentified violation of athletic department rules. That is an unacceptable occurrence for Ahmady, who is arguably one of the five best hitters in the entire country. His return to the lineup will make the Bulldogs lethal with the bats.

The second criticism of the weekend is the lack of Nick Hom̢۪s presence in the lineup. My best guess is that a lack of defensive ability is keeping him out of the field, but he possesses one of the best swings on the team and could easily be Alan Ahmady, part two (with the hitting, not suspension). I fail to see why Hom shouldn̢۪t be starting at DH every day, where regular at-bats would earn him an All-WAC worth performance, in my opinion.

There are a ton of positives to build on, but a definite reason for worry as well, even with Fresno State̢۪s history of poor starts. Offensively, this team should be ready to hit right now. Most college teams start hot with the bats, so to be cold now isn̢۪t good.

There will be a target on the back of this team every game this year, meaning all systems must go sooner than later.