The Fresno State baseball team (18-15, 7-8 Mountain West) found its rhythm early in Tuesday night’s game as it scored six runs in the first inning to propel it to an 8-2 win over CSU Northridge.

“They’ve been playing hard for a long time,” Fresno State head coach Mike Batesole said. “Teams have been playing perfect defense against us. We kind of got a little crack today, and it was nice to make them pay for it.”

The Matadors (13-19, 2-4 Big West) tried to climb back into the game after falling in a 6-0 hole early on by scoring two runs the following inning. Junior Nick Blaser recorded the Matador’s first run off a Michael Livingston bunt. Minutes after, Nicolas Osuna scored the second and final run.

But CSUN ultimately fell short in their comeback attempt, as they were held scoreless for the final seven innings.

In the bottom of the first, Jordan Luplow batted in Trent Woodward with a single for the first run of the game. Shortly after, Taylor Ward connected on a single to send Brody Russell home, putting the ‘Dogs up 2-0. Luplow scored the ‘Dogs third run on a sacrifice fly by third baseman Chris Mariscal. Freshman left fielder Jake Stone then stepped up to the plate with two outs to hit his first triple of the year, sending home three more ‘Dogs to increase the Fresno State lead to six.

The ‘Dogs scored adding two more runs in the second and third innings but were held scoreless for the next five.

The Bulldogs held CSU Northridge scoreless in the final seven innings using a variety of pitchers. Junior pitcher William Munro started on the mound for the ‘Dogs and allowed two earned runs in 2.2 innings before he was replaced by Garrett Mundell. The 6-foot-6 junior tossed 1.2 innings before he was relieved by Dillon Houser. Fred Schlichtholz and Casey Rodriguez closed out the game.

Batesole’s team has now won two out of their last three and is three games above .500 overall. In Mountain West play, the ‘Dogs are in fifth place.

The ‘Dogs will be back on the baseball diamond on Friday when they travel to New Mexico take on conference rival Lobos in a 3-game series. The series kicks off Friday at 5 p.m. PT with Games 2 and 3 taking place over the weekend.

“New Mexico is playing good,” Batesole said. “They’re a tough team offensively that plays well at home, so it’s really going to be a tough weekend.”

Fresno State’s next contest at Pete Beiden Field will come against the California Golden Bears on Tuesday, April 22.