Brooke Ortiz leads the Bulldogs offensively, batting .328 on the season.
Ortiz has 45 hits in 137 at-bats including six doubles, three triples
and 15 RBIs.
Esteban Cortez / The Collegian
Fresno State’s three-game series at Hawaii will determine WAC’s top spot
Fresno State will kick off a three-game series at No. 14 Hawaii today to determine who will take control of the Western Athletic Conference standings.
The Bulldogs (31-17- 11-2 WAC) took over first place last weekend with a three-game sweep over New Mexico State combined with the Rainbow Wahine dropping one game of their three-game series with Nevada.
The Bulldogs are led by a strong pitching rotation with Michelle Moses, who holds a 20-11 record with 11 shutouts and a 1.83 ERA this season.
She was named this week’s WAC Pitcher of the Week after allowing only one run in two games against New Mexico State. She allowed only four hits in the two games along with 12 strikeouts and pitched her 25th complete game. It was her second WAC Pitcher of the Week award this season and the fifth of her career. Moses needs two more strikeouts to be the seventh pitcher in Fresno State history to reach 600 in a career.
The Bulldogs currently have three players hitting over the .300 mark with Brooke Ortiz leading the team at .328 while Stesha Brazil and Courtney Moore are batting .319 and .314, respectively.
“All we can do is give them as much run support as we can,” Moore said.
The ‘Dogs also produce power in their lineup with Moses hitting 16 home runs and Courtney Moore adding another eight. The pair’s last home runs came on back-to-back shots in the first game of the April 21 doubleheader.
The Bulldogs are made up of a young roster with three freshmen starting 35 games or more this season. Brenna Moss, Maria Sio and Michelle Solomon have each demonstrated that despite their young age, their skills are deserving of being everyday players. Moss and Sio have started every game for the Bulldogs this season.
“We get better everyday,” Griffin said. “Even though we’re a young team, it doesn’t really matter. You still have to play the game.”
Hawaii enters the series as the No. 2 team in the nation in team ERA at 1.02. The staff is led by WAC Pitcher of the Year contender Stephanie Ricketts who has the No. 2-ranked ERA among qualified pitchers with a 0.97 ERA. She holds a 23-3 overall record this season and has tied Hawaii’s record for career shutouts with 32.
Last season Fresno State swept then-No. 20 Hawaii at Bulldog Diamond. The ‘Dogs also took a 2-1 victory from the Rainbow Wahine in the WAC Tournament. This will be the third straight regular-season series in which Hawaii has been ranked in the top 25.
The games will be at 9 p.m. Friday with Saturday’s doubleheader beginning at 5 p.m. The game will be available at www.ocsports.tv for live streaming.
