The Fresno State baseball team is looking to continue its winning streak when the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners visit Pete Beiden Field tonight.
Over the weekend, the Bulldogs swept the Nevada Wolf Pack in a rematch of last season’s Mountain West Conference tournament matchup. Fresno State outscored Nevada 20-13 over three games including a Sunday afternoon comeback.
Fresno State enters tonight’s contest 6-2 overall and 4-1 at home. Its home loss was to Sacramento State, a 6-4 defeat last Wednesday.
Freshman left-hander Fred Schlichtholz is projected to make his first college start against the Roadrunners. The Del Mar, Calif., native was both a pitcher and outfielder during his years at Coronado High School.
Scouting the Roadrunners
Cal State Bakersfield enters Pete Beiden Field with a 5-3 record after losing a home game for the first time in 2014 to Towson University. The ‘Runners finished the 2013 campaign with a 37-22 record, first place in the Western Athletic Conference (WAC).
The Roadrunners have won four of the last five against the Bulldogs for a 12-11 all-time series lead. Their last matchup was last April 30 when Fresno State won 7-4.
Starting on the mound for the Roadrunners is junior Bakersfield-native James Barragan (0-1, 3.00 ERA). He has yet to win a game in his career, with an 0-6 record and 4.24 ERA in 36 appearances.
Cal State Bakersfield has been productive at the plate behind the bats of Chance Gusbeth and Oscar Sanay.
Gusbeth leads the Roadrunners in RBI (seven) and has the team’s only home run so far. The sophomore from Lancaster, Calif., won the first WAC Baseball Player of the Week honor of 2014 for his performance during the Roadrunners’ series sweep over the University of Milwaukee two weeks ago.
Sanay comes into the 2014 season after leading his team in hitting (.362) last year. The senior is batting .278 with four RBIs and two stolen bases coming into Fresno.
Ward named Mountain West Player of the Week
Fresno State sophomore catcher Taylor Ward earned Mountain West Baseball Player of the Week honors for the week of Feb. 17-23.
In five games, Ward averaged a .389 batting average with seven hits, four runs and eight RBIs. Last Wednesday, he hit his first home run of the season off Sacramento State pitcher Dallas Chadwick.
After the Roadrunners, the Bulldogs will host the Texas A&M Aggies of the Southeastern Conference this weekend.
