The nationally-ranked Fresno State softball team pounded Sacramento State 10-2 to advance to 10-0 on the season on Sunday afternoon during the final game of annual Fresno State Kick-Off.
“I do know that we have no losses so that’s always good,” head coach Trisha Ford said. “I think we came out and did what we were supposed to do. It just goes to us playing our kind of softball.”
Freshman pitcher Kamalani Dung recorded her first complete game and earned her first win of the season with two strikeouts, allowing only two earned runs with five hits.
Offensively, junior Lindsey Willmon powered the `Dogs as she totaled three hits and one run in three at-bats. In addition, six Bulldogs combined for 12 hits with Paige Gumz, Alyssa Villalpando, Wendy Cardinali, Kierra Willis and Whitney Smith each scoring and senior Bria Kennedy chipped in with two runs.
Junior Shelby Johnston started the game for the Hornets with a line-drive single to left field off of a Dung pitch, which advanced freshmen Sydney Rasmussen to third base.
In the bottom of the first inning, Villalpando hit a line drive to center field to score Kennedy for the Bulldogs first score of the game. Gumz then drove in the second run to take the 2-1 lead.
Villalpando was in a zone and focused throughout the game.
“We just come out ready to go regardless of who we are playing,” Villalpando said. “It doesn’t really matter who is on the other side of the field, we just come out ready to go.”
The bottom of the fourth inning was when the floodgates opened up as Villalpando crushes a triple to bring in three runs and extend the Fresno State lead to 9-1.
After the previous two games ending in walks, it was only fitting that the Dog’s finished that game with a Villalpando walk to score in the last run to push the final score to 10-2.
Villalpando enjoys being at the top and brings on the challenge, but was surprised by the run of walk-off wins.
We like that target on our back, it’s awesome,” she said. “It’s good to play with that target on our back and just to know that we’re the target right now. Kind of sucks in essence but I mean we’ll take it. A win is a win right?.”
