Sophomore left-hander Tyler Linehan is expected to start on the mound
today for the ‘Dogs. Fresno State opens up its three-game series today
against CSU Bakersfield in the Battle of the 99.
James Ramirez / The Collegian
Fresno State will host rival Cal State Bakersfield in a three-game series to claim bragging rights of the Central Valley
The Fresno State baseball team is set to avenge an early season loss to CSU Bakersfield in this weekend’s three-game series that begins today at Beiden Field.
The Roadrunners (7-9) shut out the ‘Dogs (8-9), 4-0 back on Feb. 22 and are currently 8-8 all time against the team whose program began in 2009. Bakersfield is currently independent from any conference but will be included in the Western Athletic Conference next season, just missing a chance to develop a conference rivalry with the Bulldogs.
“Bakersfield always pitches well,” said head coach Mike Batesole. “That’s one thing Coach Kernen always had is outstanding pitching staffs. They have a good left-hander going Friday night and we got our best left-hander.”
The ‘Dogs have a 6-6 home record this year while the Roadrunners have struggled all season on the road, winning only one game in six chances. The Roadrunners’ lone road win was a 7-6 comeback against UC Santa Barbara.
The ‘Dogs have had their own struggles this season. They have failed to win a series since taking three of four games from Butler in the opening weekend and have won back-to-back games only twice. They have also scored one run or less five times, three of those being shutouts. The ‘Dogs will go into this series knowing that Bakersfield will rely on its pitching staff.
Despite a lackluster win-loss column, the ‘Dogs have remained consistent, never losing more than three straight.
“We’re just going to approach it like any other series,” outfielder Daniel Moultrie said. “We’re just going to go out and stick to our game plan.”
The ‘Dogs have had a resurgence of offense in recent games as senior Kenny Wise picked up his first two home runs of the year last weekend. Fellow senior Pat Hutcheson had three multi-hit games out of the four played last weekend.
“As they’re learning they’re going to make some mistakes and they’re learning from them so that’s the key,” Batesole said.
Junior pitcher Justin Haley was named WAC Pitcher of the Week for his performances on March 2 against Stanford and March 8 against San Francisco. In the San Francisco game he held the Dons scoreless through seven innings and struck out a career-high nine batters. Against Stanford he relieved starter Tyler Linehan and went 3 2/3 innings without allowing a hit or a walk while striking out three.
The Battle of the 99 will start at 6:05 p.m. both Friday and Saturday and conclude at 1:05 p.m. Sunday.
