The Fresno State baseball team returns to the diamond on Feb. 13 to begin its final season in the Mountain West.
Head Coach Ryan Overland, who was given a contract extension through 2030, leads the Diamond ‘Dogs for his fourth season. His last two seasons have ended the same — consecutive losses in the NCAA Regionals following a Mountain West title.
After the season, the Diamond ‘Dogs lost four key starters, including Mountain West co-Player of the Year Murf Gray.
“If somebody is in there ready to be Murf Gray, that would be pretty nice,” Overland said. “Murf is somebody that you don’t just replace. It’s going to have to come from a lot of places.”
With the holes left by Gray, Mountain West Pitcher of the Year Aidan Cremarosa, pitcher Jack Anker and catcher Justin Stransky, Overland is waiting to see the identity take shape.
“We’ve got to find out a little,” Overland said. “This fall was a unique one. We had a lot of guys who were banged up this fall.”
The team, however, is ready to forge a new identity.
“We’re going to have to be scrappy,” said senior Griffen Sotomayor. “Last year, we were a bit more powerful, a bit bigger, a bit stronger, a bit older. This year, we’re going to have to be fast and play a clean brand of baseball.”
Sotomayor was picked as the lone Bulldog to the preseason All-Mountain West team on Feb. 4. The Diamond ‘Dogs were picked to finish second in the Mountain West.
The Diamond ‘Dogs open up the non-conference with four premier college baseball programs: the University of Utah, Pepperdine University, Stanford University and the University of Arizona.
Stanford and Arizona have won NCAA Super Regionals in 2023 and 2025, respectively.
Mountain West play for the Diamond ‘Dogs begins on March 13 against the preseason favorite to win the conference, the University of Nevada, Reno.
The back-to-back Mountain West champions have one goal in mind to end Fresno State’s tenure in the Mountain West.
“We’d love to finish [as] three-time Mountain West champs,” Sotomayor said.
A win would be the Bulldogs’ fourth Mountain West title and a third consecutive title.
The road to a third-straight Mountain West title for the Diamond ‘Dogs begins Feb. 13-16 with a four-game series against the Utes. First pitch on opening day is set for 6:05 p.m.
