Matt Weir / The Collegian

Leaving runners on base was one short fall to the 0-4 series

The pitching troubles are starting to settle in for the Fresno State baseball team as the diamond ‘Dogs lost all four games against Oregon this past weekend at Pete Beiden Field.

On Friday night, the ‘Dogs lost 2-7 and in the doubleheader on Saturday the ‘Dogs lost 4-8 and 2-5. The ‘Dogs finished the series losing 3-8 on Sunday.

The pitching staff struggled to throw effectively against an Oregon team that came into the series batting just .244 as a team.

Oregon put on a hitting clinic as it recorded 14 hits in game one, 11 hits in game two, nine hits in game three and 11 hits in game four.

The starting pitchers for the ‘Dogs struggled during the first two games of the series.

Sophomore pitcher Cody Kendall replaced sophomore Derek Benny as the team’s Friday night starter, but lasted only four innings against the Ducks while allowing 10 hits and five earned runs.

Kendall was relieved by senior Sean Bonesteele who fared a little better against the Oregon batters. Bonesteele finished the game throwing five innings with four hits and an earned run while striking out three batters.

In the first game of the doubleheader on Saturday, the pitching troubles continued as senior Matt Morse allowed seven hits and three earned runs in six and a third innings of service.

Matt Weir / The Collegian

The doubleheader concluded with sophomore Charlie Robertson making his first start of the season. Robertson pitched a respectable five and a third innings allowing just six hits and three earned runs but it was still too much for the ‘Dogs to overcome.

“He threw the ball exceptionally well,” head coach Mike Batesole said about Robertson. “I thought he kept the ball down low, his misses were good misses. We didn’t play very good catch behind him.”

Pitching wasn’t the only concern for the team during the weekend, the ‘Dogs had costly errors and mistakes that led to several Oregon runs. The ‘Dogs were credited with 11 total errors during the series.

“We need to take care of the baseball like we did the first two weekends,” Batesole said.

The ‘Dogs did, however, continue its hot hitting ways as it racked up nine hits on Friday, 12 and eight hits in the doubleheader on Saturday and eight hits on Sunday.

The hits went to waste as the ‘Dogs left 28 total runners stranded during the series as the ‘Dogs failed to take advantage of their opportunities to score runs.
“We did some good things and we did some things not so well,” Batesole said.

Junior third baseman Garrett Weber showed flashes of brilliance throughout the series as he made plays with both his glove and bat.

Western Athletic Conference preseason Player of the Year Danny Muno had a good outing during the series. Muno had a hit in every game over the weekend but was prone to errors. He had three errors alone during Sunday’s game.

The diamond ‘Dogs will try to snap its four-game losing streak as they host Santa Clara on Tuesday at home.