Brianna Campbell / The Collegian
The Bulldogs battle back later in the weekend to split with Louisiana Tech in a four-game series.
The Fresno State baseball team overcame a tumultuous start to its four-game series this weekend against Louisiana Tech by salvaging a 2-2 split.
Neither team struggled with the bats, as they combined for a total of 69 runs in the series.
Fresno State lost the first two games, 13-6 and 13-5, only to turn it around and win the next two games 14-4 and 12-2.
The bulldogs were resilient, and were pleased to come back and win the final two games of the series.
“We lost two quick ones at the beginning, Friday and the first game Saturday. But it felt good to come out last night and win, and then come back again on a Sunday when everyone is beat up and tired and finish what we needed to do,” first baseman Jordan Ribera said.
Ribera continued to produce at the plate, belting his 15th homerun of the season and helping the bulldogs to a victory in the final game of the series.
“It was a good feeling,” Ribera said of his homerun. “More importantly it felt good to come out and win today.”
Coach Batesole attributes Ribera’s offensive success this season to his improved ability to hit outside pitches.
“You’ve seen how many balls he’s hit for extra base hits to the opposite field,” Batesole said. “He had a big double last night, homerun to the opposite field today, and that’s been the difference. You can always hit the ball as far as you want to on the pull side, but the problem is on game day they’re not going to give you any pitches when you’re as big and strong as he is.”
After the four-game series with Louisiana Tech, Fresno State is now 22-16 overall and 5-3 in conference play.
The weekend was also highlighted by leadoff hitter Danny Muno who drew eight walks in the four games, and surpassed the previous school record of 146 career walks. He now has 148 walks as a bulldog and leads the team with 31 this season.
The bulldogs had its best pitching performance in game four from Charlie Robertson. The sophomore pitcher recorded a career-high nine strikeouts and held the Louisiana Tech offense to only two runs in the 12-2 victory.
“I liked the way Charlie threw the ball,” Batesole said. “He had outstanding movement today. He was starting a lot of pitches out of the zone and bringing them back into the zone, and made some big pitches when he had to. He got in some trouble, and that’s what you like to see out of your starting pitchers, when they get in trouble they can get in and out of it and that was the key to the whole day.”
Up next, the bulldogs hit the road for a four-game series against the Nevada Wolf Pack April 23-25.
