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Fresno State's student-run newspaper

The Collegian

Fresno State's student-run newspaper

The Collegian

Softball reaches two huge milestones Friday


Matt Weir / The Collegian

The women̢۪s softball team hosted the Nevada Wolf Pack in its last home series of the year.

The Bulldogs won the series by beating Nevada once Friday and once on Saturday.

On Friday the series began with a 1-0 victory for the Bulldogs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Sophomore Morgan Melloh pitched nine complete innings only giving up four hits.

Melloh had 14 strikeouts on Friday night including three strikeouts in the top of the ninth.

The bulldogs were able to rally together in the bottom of the ninth and walk away with a 1-0 victory.

The Bulldogs finished the series on Saturday with a doubleheader.

In game one on Saturday, Melloh pitched seven complete innings, striking nine batters out and allowing four hits.

The Bulldogs scored their first run in the bottom of the fourth inning. With the Bulldogs up 2-0, Haley Gilleland was able to drive in two more runs with her double.

The Bulldogs won game two of the series 4-0. This win put the Bulldogs ahead of the Wolf Pack in the WAC standings by half a game.

In game three on Saturday, the Bulldogs were able to get started early, as Michelle Moses hit her seventh home run of the year in the first inning.

The ̢۪Dogs did not get many other chances, as the Wolf Pack ran away with it, winning 5-1.

Melloh pitched four innings, allowing five hits and three runs with only two strikeouts.

With the loss in game three the Bulldogs are now down by half a game in the WAC to Nevada.

Coach Margie Wright explained that in order to end the season on a high note, they need to continue to get their runs in.

“We hit the ball well today, that was good,â€Â Wright said. “We need to play well together and keep winning.â€Â

Gilleland also felt that the team̢۪s chemistry is in a good place right now.

“We were struggling at it in the beginning, trying to get things to work right, but now we are working well together, making adjustments and it feels good,â€Â Gilleland said.

“We need to go in and sweep these next few series and see what happens with the rest of the season.â€Â

Game one on Friday night marked the 300th WAC win for Coach Margie Wright.

Wright is the first coach to ever reach such a milestone in the conference.

Also reaching a milestone Friday was Melloh. Her 14-strikeout performance put her at more than 800 strikeouts in her career.

In game two Melloh was able to pass Ali Andrus-Sagas̢۪ record of 809 strikeouts. Melloh now has the third-most strikeouts all-time in the WAC.

Although Melloh is in the chase for the record she explains that is not her main goal.

“My main goal is to get to the [College] World Series, also to keep fighting, keep winning and we’ll get there,â€Â Melloh said.

Melloh said that it is her role to get batters out; so she just keeps doing her job, getting batters out, and setting up the defense to do their work.

Melloh now has 818 strikeouts in her career. If she is able to keep the pace up then she will end her career with the most strikeouts in the WAC. Currently holding the record is Jamie Southern with 1,321 strikeouts.

The softball team will not play again until this Friday, when they head to Boise State for a three-game series.

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