The Fresno State baseball team took the first two games of its four-game series with the Dons before dropping the final two. Bulldogs now sit at 7-9 on the season and 13 of their next 14 game are at home.
The Dogs took the first game of the series, 2-1. Thursday night’s game featured two solid pitching performances by Bulldog Justin Haley and Don Alex Balog. Haley went seven innings without allowing an earned run and threw nine strikeouts.
“Our pitching is the strength of our team right now,” senior outfielder Kenny Wise said.
The ‘Dogs were able to overcome a 1-0 deficit after a wild pitch scored Ted LeMasters from third in the fourth.
Austin Wynns put the ‘Dogs on the board sixth with an unearned run when the Dons’ Aritz Garcia committed an error on a ball put in play by Chris Mariscal.
The Bulldogs took the lead for good in the eighth when Aaron Judge crossed home plate on a wild pitch by Cameron Love. Taylor Garrison came in to close the game in the ninth to pick up his second save of the season.
The ‘Dogs were able to tag Dons’ pitcher Kyle Zimmer early in Friday’s game, winning 6-2. The ‘Dogs took an early 3-0 lead in the second inning with an RBI single by Mariscal and a two-run triple by Zimmer left the game after six innings giving up six runs.
The Bulldogs further extended their lead in the fifth as Judge collected an RBI single and Kenny Wise hit a two-run home run over the right field fence.
Bulldog pitcher Tyler Linehan got his second win, going 7 2/3 and striking out eight. The Dons would get their only two runs on the game in the eighth.
Wise went 3-for-4 connecting on his second home run of the season and added two RBI in Saturday’s game and the Bulldogs fell 6-3.
The Bulldogs were down 5-0 until Wise hit his home run in the sixth inning, the only runs allowed by Dons pitcher Abe Bobb who went 7 2/3 innings. The ‘Dogs were able to do little else in the game until the ninth when freshman Taylor Tempel hit a pinch-hit home run against Elliott Waterman, his first as a Bulldog.
Sunday’s game was close until a late collapse put the game away at 6-1.
The Dons scored first in the sixth inning on a RBI single by Matt Chavez. The ‘Dogs quickly answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning with an RBI single by Wise.
The Dons extended their lead in the seventh with an RBI by Adam Clear to put the game at 2-1. The Dons then would go on to score four runs in the ninth on three hits and an error to deflate whatever comeback the ‘Dogs were hoping to make.
“We just have to keep working,” Wise said.
The Bulldogs will travel to Santa Barbara for one game on Tuesday before coming back home for a 13-game home stand.