'Dogs take 1 of 3 from Cal

Fresno State salvages a three-game series with an 18-1 win over Cal Sunday

By Zack Walton

As soon as the rain clouds closed and moved away Sunday afternoon, the Bulldogs’ offense opened up—lighting up both California pitching and the scoreboard.

After losing the first two games of the weekend, Fresno State (4-7) pounded Cal (7-5) 18-1 in the final game of the three-game series, in front of 2,156 in paid attendance at a rain-soaked Beiden Field.

The Bulldogs’ outburst at the plate aided freshman Brandon Miller, who made his first collegiate start Sunday, to his first win of the season. Miller pitched five innings, giving up one run and six hits.

“ I just wanted to go out and throw strikes today,” Miller said. “Pitchers seem to get in trouble when they get behind in the count, so I just want to make sure I got ahead.”

Miller said it made it much easier for him to pitch after the Bulldogs jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the first inning.

“ I think that it is easier for any pitcher to throw when they have a lead,” Miller said. “But at this level—with the bats we use—anything can happen.”

The Bulldogs used their bats to bash out 24 hits, on their way to scoring the most runs since March 14, 2002, when they beat Fordam 18-8 in the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic.

After taking a 7-1 lead into the fifth, Fresno State put the game out of reach when freshman Christian Vitters hit a grand slam over the 370 sign in right-center field for his second home run of the season.

When rounding first, the normally sure-footed third baseman, slipped and fell on the bag. Vitters quickly got up and finished his home run trot only to be bombarded by the rest of the team in a congratulatory circle.

The Bulldogs’ entire team got into the act, as every starter had at least one hit. Senior Ryan Haag lead the team in hits—going 5 for 7—and he also had the defensive gem of the night in the seventh inning when he made a diving catch in short right field to rob California third baseman Jeff Dragicevich.

In the seventh, freshman DeAndre Miller smashed a pitch from Cal lefty Cameron Johnson over the wall in left-center for his first career home run. Then, in the eighth, he sent another pitch deep—but this one stayed in the park as it bounced off the top of the wall for a double. He would score the Bulldogs’ 18th and final run of the game on a single by senior Chris Patrick.

The Bulldogs had several highlights in their victory Sunday, but had a tough first two games against Cal, losing 16-4 on Friday and 2-0 on Saturday.

“ It was a good day—but it wasn’t a good week,” coach Mike Batesole said. “Every weekend we show flashes of brilliance, but we keep losing the close ones.”

Saturday’s game was one of those close losses, when the Bulldogs were shut out by sophomore right-hander Adam Gold. Senior catcher Brandon Marcelli broke up Gold’s no-hitter with two outs in the bottom of the ninth.

After struggling the first two games, the team got a visit from former Bulldogs All-American shortstop Eddie Zosky before the final game of the series. Zosky came and talked to the team in the clubhouse about having a more positive attitude, Haag said.

“ [Zosky] talked about positive thinking and it helped change our mindset,” Haag said. “We came out here like we needed to win today, not like we just wanted to win.”

The inspirational talk paid off for the Bulldogs, as they try to take their momentum into Tuesday’s game against Cal Poly.