The Diamond ‘Dogs dropped two out of three games to lose a weekend series against San Diego State.
In Friday’s game, Fresno State battled back from an early deficit, but was unable to come through and fell in the series opener to the Aztecs, 8-4.
In that first game, Fresno State pitcher Trevor Garcia went four innings, allowing six hits, five runs and struck out a pair in his first loss of the season.
In the bottom of the first, Andrew Kachel led off with a single up the middle, and Vinny Bologna drove him in on a sacrifice fly, getting a run back for the Bulldogs.
Fresno State got another run in the bottom of the fourth with freshman Bobby Blandford hitting an RBI single to right field, scoring Tommy Hopfe.
The Bulldogs attempted to take the lead in the seventh, loading the bases with two outs, but Hopfe went down swinging.
The Aztecs added a three-run home run from Brian Leonhardt in the ninth to make it 8-3. The ‘Dogs tacked on one more run in the bottom of the frame on an RBI single by Hopfe, but that would be all they could muster in the loss.
In Saturday’s afternoon game, which was part of the Bulldog Block Party, fans were invited to cheer on the Diamond ‘Dogs after attending the football spring preview.
The Diamond ‘Dogs got another strong pitching performance from Ixan Henderson to defeat San Diego State 6-2 in the second game of the series.
Henderson earned his seventh win of the season (7-3) going 6.2 innings while limiting the Aztecs to just two earned runs, on four walks and striking out five.
The Bulldogs jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead, but after Henderson went out in the seventh, the ‘Dogs were still able to win 6-2 despite committing two errors to the Aztecs’ one.
In the series finale on Sunday, the ‘Dogs brought the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth, but lost the series finale to San Diego State 8-5 on Mike Batesole Day.
Southpaw Jake Dixon (1-5) drew his 12th start of the season for the Bulldogs, going four innings and giving up two earned runs on three hits while striking out four in the loss.
The Aztecs got out to a fast 4-0 lead after four innings, getting three runs in the third and adding on an unearned run in the fourth on a Bulldog throwing error.
The hope for a comeback in the bottom of the ninth was a possibility after the Bulldogs got back-to-back singles from Morgan and Bologna, but a flyout by Luna and a groundout by Lauck ended the ‘Dogs rally.
Sloppy defense hurt the ‘Dogs in Sunday’s finale as they tied their season high with four errors in the loss, and the Aztecs only committed one.
Overall for the weekend, the ‘Dogs committed six errors in total compared with the Aztecs’ two.
The Diamond ‘Dogs will be back out at Pete Beiden Field at Bob Bennett Stadium on Tuesday, May 3, against Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. The first pitch is scheduled for 6:05 p.m.
