Fresno State baseball opened its four-game series against Cal on Thursday with a 5-4 loss in Berkeley.
The Bulldogs took a one-run lead into the bottom of the ninth inning, but some timely hitting by the Golden Bears off of reliever Jordan Brinks helped Cal tie the game up at four apiece. It took only two singles and a sacrifice fly for the Bulldogs to lose their grip on the lead. With the score tied, the game went into extra innings.
Catcher Austin Wynns led off the tenth inning with a single, but the Bulldogs were unable to capitalize on the opportunity. The game remained tied for Cal in the bottom of the tenth.
Fresno State coach Mike Batesole brought freshman pitcher Blake Quinn in to try to hold off the Golden Bears.
Things did not start well for Quinn, however, when he hit right fielder Jacob Wark — the first batter he faced. That proved a costly error for Fresno State as Cal was able to capitalize on the free runner ”” the Golden Bears advanced Wark to third and he scored off of a sacrifice fly to centerfield.
Thursday was yet another case ofthe Bulldogs being let down by too many free runners and a shaky bullpen. Starter William Munro went 5 2/3 innings and gave up two hits, one run and three strikeouts, but he also gave up six walks. The five relievers on the day combined for 3 2/3 innings with six hits, two walks, two strikeouts and four earned runs.
Among those relievers who took the mound were junior Tyler Linehan and sophomore Aaron Gillis, both of whom have ERAs over 10 ”” Linehan at 12.38 and Gillis at 11.12.
The Bulldogs also continued to struggle with errors on defense, committing four on Thursday. This comes after a three-error game on Tuesday against San Jose State ”” a game that Fresno State also lost.
At the plate, Fresno State put up eight hits and produced four runs.
At this point in the season, the Bulldogs only have three regular starters who are batting above .250 ”” junior Aaron Judge (.367), sophomore Chris Mariscal (.341) and redshirt senior Trent Garrison (.333).
With this loss, Fresno State slides to a 3-9 record, while Cal improves to 6-7.
The Bulldogs have three more games at Berkeley before they return home to face San Diego State (7-5) to begin Mountain West Conference play.
