Bulldogs hold off Cal Poly

Fresno State jumps out to an early lead, before beating the Mustangs 5-4

By Darrell Copeland

It’s too bad Michael Buffer wasn’t at the baseball game Tuesday night. Because the teams were getting ready to rumble.

Amidst all of the action at Beiden Field, the confrontation between Fresno State catcher Brandon Marcelli and Cal Poly’s Matt Guiliano stole the show. The Bulldogs did pull out a victory, holding on to an early lead which they created in the first inning, scoring four runs and eventually winning 5-4.

On a seventh-inning double by the Mustangs’ Sam Herbert, Guiliano, made his way home from first, running into, or being tripped by, Marcelli. Either way, the run-in led to both teams clearing the bench, with both Marcelli and Guiliano being held back by teammates.

The Bulldogs, who already had momentum and were playing with intensity, got even more of a spark from the feud.

“ We were playing hard from the beginning anyway but that shot us into overdrive,” Fresno State coach Mike Batesole said.

Flying underneath the radar, sophomore Richie Robnett had another superb game. Robnett, who came into the game with a .348 average, helped out his own cause, going 2 for 3 with a home run and a walk.

“ Richie swung the bat well,” Batesole said.

The Bulldogs who were out-hit in the game 12-9, were efficient with two outs, lifting them to a narrow one-run victory.

In what appears to be a trend, the hits that Fresno State came through with were clutch two-out, two-strike hits.

“ We talked about that right before it happened,” Batesole said. “This might be the most important at bat of the game—maybe it was.”

Not to be ignored was the pitching of senior David Griffin. Griffin, who threw only 45 pitches in his previous outing Friday, threw 4 and 1/3 innings, allowing two runs and striking out two Mustang batters.

“ He went out there five times and got the leadoff man all five times,” Batesole said.

The final out of the game came on a strike ‘em out throw ‘em out—sort of.

After striking out the leadoff man, ptcher Matt Garza gave up two consecutive hits, putting runners on first and third. With a full count and the runner on first in motion, Garza got Herbert to swing and miss for out number two.

As Marcelli came up ready to fire, Herbert stepped over home plate, interfering with Marcelli’s attempt, thus forcing out the runner on first.

The win makes it two in a row for the Bulldogs—the first time that has occurred this season.

“ We’re gonna enjoy today for about ten minutes or so, then get to work for Friday,” Batesole said. “We’ll see if we can get that to snowball a little bit.”