A break from Mountain West Conference play couldn’t have come at a better time for the Fresno State baseball team.
It has been a rough opening conference campaign for the Bulldogs, and Sunday’s loss at New Mexico was just a small sample of how bad things are going.
Tied 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning, New Mexico scored the game-winning run on a wild pitch while Fresno State was attempting an intentional walk to help the Lobos complete the three-game sweep.
But with 22 regular-season games remaining, there is still a lot of baseball to be played, giving the Bulldogs time to turn it around.
A nonconference game during the middle of the week may be just what the Bulldogs need to take some time and reassess some things.
Fresno State (8-23, 3-10 MWC) will host CSU Bakersfield at 6:35 p.m. today.
The game will mark the first of a six-game homestand that will take place over the next five days. The Bulldogs will host Air Force for five games from Friday —Sunday. Two doubleheaders will be played Friday and Saturday, and the series will end with a single game Sunday.
Fresno State and Bakersfield already played once this season with Bakersfield winning 5-3. The two teams separated by about two hours of highway will play each other four times this season.
While the team hasn’t been able to muster up much success this season, a pair of Bulldogs are turning in fine campaigns.
Preseason All-American Aaron Judge is living up to the billing. He is hitting .347 with five home runs, nine doubles, 18 RBIs and 19 runs scored.
Shortstop Chris Mariscal is the only other Bulldog with a batting average over .300. He is hitting .322 with 11 RBIs and 12 runs scored.
Bakersfield is in the middle of an impressive season. The Roadrunners are 9-3 in the Western Athletic Conference and are 24-13 overall.
The Roadrunners are hitting .292 as a team and are led by Tyler Shryock, who is posting a .353 average. Doing damage in the middle of the lineup for the Roadrunners is Cael Brockmeyer with a .338 average, three home runs and 33 RBIs.
Bakersfield heads into Fresno on a three-game winning streak.