The Fresno State women’s softball team debuted in the Mountain West Conference with a pair of victories against Nevada this past weekend in Fresno.
Fresno State took 2-of-3 from the Wolf Pack to improve to 21-15 overall on the season.
“We made it a goal this year to win every series to be in a good situation at the end of the year,” Fresno State coach Trisha Ford said after Sunday’s win.
The Bulldogs will look to make it two series wins when they play at UNLV in their first Mountain West Conference road series.
The series begins at 6 p.m. tonight. The two weekend games will begin at 1 p.m.
UNLV is off to a rough start to the 2013 MWC season. The Rebels opened with a trio of losses against Colorado State and are 14-21 overall.
The Bulldogs are winning games playing Ford’s style of softball. Fresno State has not been shy about being aggressive on the bases.
The team already has 55 steals, compared to the 18 it had last year. Brenna Moss is wreaking havoc on the base paths with 22 steals, and Stesha Brazil has 12 steals.
Fresno State struggled to really get the bats going against Nevada, which may not be a problem against UNLV. Fresno State managed just 10 runs in three games against Nevada, and was shut out in the second game of the series.
The Rebels struggled in their three games against Colorado State, giving up a total of 35 runs, which should bode well for a Fresno State offense that is hitting .274 as a team.
Paige Gumz leads the way for the Fresno State offensive attack. The freshman catcher is hitting .327 with 15 RBIs, eight doubles and 10 runs scored.
Diane Runge is the only other player to have played in all 36 games to be hitting over .300. She is hitting .310 with eight RBIs and 17 runs scored.
Moss is close with a .299 batting average. She has 13 RBIs and 30 runs scored. She also has six triples, which is good for second in the country.
The three-headed pitching staff Ford is using continues to pitch well, posting a combined earned run average of 2.48.
Hannah Harris impressed in the series against Nevada. She went 1-1, but posted a 0.00 ERA and gave up six hits.
The next chance for Fresno State fans to watch the Bulldogs at home will be April 12-14 for a three-game series against Boise State.