Joseph Edgecomb / The Collegian

After last weekend̢۪s four-game sweep at the hands of Loyola Marymount, the Fresno State Bulldogs needed some sort of boost.

A complete game shutout and bottom of the ninth thriller later, the Bulldogs are back above .500 and two weeks away from beginning conference play.

The Bulldogs (13-10) took three out of four games from the Lipscomb Bisons, with a doubleheader sweep on Saturday and a Sunday matinee victory.

Senior catcher Danny Grubb and junior third baseman Tom Mendonca provided the late-game heroics for Fresno State on Sunday.

With the Bulldogs down 6-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Mendonca belted a three-run, opposite-field blast to left field to tie up the game at 6-6, his 11th homer of the season.

Alan Ahmady followed with a single , while Gavin Hedstrom and Steve Detwiler loaded the bases with back-to-back bunt singles.

After Jordan Ribera popped out, Grubb came up and lined a single into left field to give the Bulldogs the game and series win.

“It could’ve been anyone today,â€Â Grubb said. “We all stuck to the plan in the ninth inning and that plan was to zone up and look for a [high] fastball and put a good swing on it. That’s what we were doing the entire ninth inning.â€Â

Grubb also had a firsthand account of one of the best pitching performances in Fresno State history on Saturday night.

Freshman fireballer Derek Benny faced the minimum 27 batters on Saturday night to pick up a complete game, two-hit shutout on Saturday night over Lipscomb.

Benny̢۪s performance was the first time a Bulldog pitcher has faced the minimum number of batters in a game since 1967.

The Roseville, Calif. native was consistently touching 95 miles per hour on the radar gun and totaled eight strikeouts.

“Just being able to go out there and throw like that in front of my family was great,â€Â Benny said. “We got a lot of runs out there, no errors on our defense and our fielders helping me out was great.â€Â

The Diamond ̢۪Dogs put up 10 runs behind Benny to cap off a Saturday doubleheader sweep.

Fresno State won the first game on Saturday 13-11, thanks to an 11-run fourth inning and home runs from Ribera and Mendonca.

Mendonca hit three roundtrippers this weekend, to take sole possession of second place on Fresno State̢۪s all-time home run list at 40.

Giuseppe Chiaramonte is the Bulldogs̢۪ all-time leader with 43.

“Records are records, if they’re set, they’re broken,â€Â Mendonca said. “If it happens, it happens. If it doesn’t, I’m just happy to play baseball.â€Â

Although Fresno State̢۪s weekend had several positive notes, some of the negative trends continued to rear their ugly head, including shaky performances from the bullpen.

In the Bulldogs̢۪ only loss this weekend, reliever Zac Bischoff surrendered a three-run homer in the top of the ninth on Friday night that led to a 10-6 defeat.

However, the Bulldogs̢۪ biggest weakness this season may be the fact that they have to leave Beiden Field.

Fresno State is 12-4 at home, but a dismal 1-6 on the road.

Coach Mike Batesole said his team needs to learn how to win on the road if they hope to be successful when league starts on April 10.

“That’s always the last thing that the young kids learn, is how to win on the road,â€Â Batesole said. “The team that’s going to win the WAC is the same team that wins it every year and that’s the team with the best road league record.â€Â

The Bulldogs have an opportunity to improve that road record as they head to UC Davis on Tuesday and will come back home on Wednesday to host the Aggies.
Fresno State will host Cal State Bakersfield for a four-game series starting April 3.

The long ball

Junior Tom Mendonca has already hit 11 home runs this season. Here is a look at Fresno State̢۪s all-time, single season home run leaders:

1) Lance Shebelut, 32 (1988)
2) G. Chiaramonte, 26 (1997)
3) Beau Mills, 22 (2005)
4) Jim Rothford, 20 (1978)
5) Randy Asadoor, 19 (1983)
Tom Mendonca, 19 (2008)
6) Pete Dalena, 17 (1982)
7) Simon Tafoya, 16 (1998)
Mike Burton, 16 (1988)
Steve Vondran, 16 (1988)
10) Pete Dalena, 15 (1981)
Derek Feramisco, 15 (1996)
Josh Labandeira, 15 (2001)