Amidst a 3-for-27 slump, all Josh Lauck needed was a hit.
With the go-ahead run on third base and two outs in the bottom of the seventh inning, the Fresno State senior lined a 2-0 pitch down the right field line.
It carried, it hooked and it landed in fair territory. Lauck’s hit scored the go-ahead run in the Diamond Dogs’ 5-4 victory over Pacific Wednesday afternoon.
Lauck spent a lot of Tuesday hitting before, during and after practice, according to head coach Mike Batesole.
In a tied ball game, Lauck’s hitting practice paid off.
“His hands were probably bleeding when we were done yesterday,” Batesole said. “That [hit] was gigantic.”
“That’s what Bulldogs do. That’s what our teams always do. We play nine.”
Lauck’s RBI double capped a comeback for Fresno State (7-8, 4-5 MW), who scored five unanswered runs after falling behind 4-0 to Pacific (7-11) through three-and-a-half innings.
A key part of Fresno State’s comeback was the bullpen’s performance. Batesole used five pitchers Wednesday, starting Jake Dixon in the first inning before turning to Nik Cardinal from the second through the fourth.
Dixon and Cardinal gave up four runs (three earned), but the next three Bulldog pitchers — Kyle Pruhsmeier, Oscar Carvajal and Robbie Peters — allowed only two hits and zero runs over the final five innings.
“We had some of our best arms lined up and ready to go,” Batesole said. “The guys that pitched today are some of our best relievers, and they didn’t pitch a ton last weekend. They were all fresh and ready to go, and they pitched really well.”
The Tigers still got to Dixon and Cardinal early, recording five hits over the first two innings. Pacific second baseman James Arakawa singled into center field to lead off the game and advanced to third on a single by left fielder Charles Middleton.
The Tigers’ next batter, Jeremy Lea, scored Arakawa on a sacrifice groundout. Dixon escaped the inning without giving up any more runs, but his afternoon was finished after 22 pitches.
In the second inning, Pacific hit three consecutive singles to extend its lead to 3-0: a run scored on a throwing error by Cardinal, followed by an RBI single from Pacific shortstop Wyatt Hoffman.
Cardinal pitched a clean third inning, but surrendered a solo home run to Pacific third baseman Thomas Gavello, giving the Tigers a 4-0 lead.
The Bulldogs were stopped by the Tigers’ starting pitcher Grant Stevens. The sophomore southpaw mixed a fastball that reached 88 mph with a breaking ball that fell at the lower 70s, keeping Fresno State to one hit through three innings.
But Stevens exited the game after the third inning, and the Bulldogs hit well against Pacific reliever Marvcus Guarin.
Fresno State designated hitter Mason Grotto laced a double down the left-field line to lead off the bottom of the fourth. Ryan Higgins scored Grotto when he sent a 2-2 pitch into left field for an RBI single.
Nate Thimjon made it a one-run game when he launched his second home run of the season past the left field bullpen. Thimjon’s two-run blast put him at a team-leading 14 RBIs this season.
“[Thimjon] is not just on a tear stats-wise, but he’s been making some loud outs,” Batesole said. “I mean, he had that ball he ripped today and a couple on Sunday where he hit it right on the screws.”
Pacific turned to another reliever in the fifth, Hunter Schilperoort. The left-hander surrendered a one-out single to Jeff Jamison and back-to-back, full-count walks to EJ Andrews Jr. and Grotto.
With the bases loaded, Schilperoort was pulled for Joe Solomon. Solomon gave up an RBI single to Higgins to tie the game at 4, but Thimjon popped out to the shortstop and Lauck grounded out to third to leave the bases loaded.
Fresno State was in position to take the lead in the sixth when Andrew Kachel walked and Tyler Davis was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning. Vinny Bologna, normally the Bulldogs’ power hitter, laid down a bunt to move the runners over to second and third with one out.
Batesole gave Bologna the bunt sign to help the senior break out of his hitting slump. Bologna is currently batting .148.
“Sometimes, your power guys take longer to get going,” Batesole said. “If you can just get them to come back to the dugout with a smile on their face after a good team at-bat, that’s something. The guys in the dugout were going crazy [after the bunt] and just to get a smile back from him, maybe he’ll get hot.”
The Bulldogs did not score either runner in scoring position. Jamison hit a sharp ground ball to third base, preventing a sacrifice groundout. Then, Andrews Jr. struck out swinging.
Grotto doubled to lead off the bottom of the seventh. But when Higgins flied out and Thimjon struck out, it was left to Lauck to drive in the go-ahead run.
Lauck delivered, allowing the bullpen to carry the Diamond Dogs the rest of the way.
Robbie Peters entered the game with two outs in the top of the eighth and the tying run in scoring position. He got a pop fly to end the threat, then pitched around a hit in the ninth to record his first save this season.
Next up for Fresno State is a three-game series at UNLV (8-4, 6-3 MW) on April 2 and 3. The Bulldogs do not play any games this weekend.