Home Sweet Home

Fresno State comes away with a pair of wins in the first games of the season at Bulldog Diamond

By Darrell Copeland

The Fresno State softball team made its way home Wednesday, playing the first games of the season at Bulldog Diamond and starting what will be an 18-game home stand.

The Bulldogs (10-4) pummeled UC Riverside (3-16), with a total of 28 hits and 19 runs between the two games, defeating the Highlanders 9-0 in game one and 10-3 in game two.

All-American pitcher Jamie Southern started game one, allowing only one hit in six innings in addition to fanning 12 Riverside batters.

“ Because it’s the first night, you want to show everybody what you have,” Southern said.

Fresno State certainly did that, showing the voltage in its bats, rivaling the likes of the Disneyland light show parade.

For proof of that, look no further than leadoff batter, All-American shortstop Christina Clark. Clark finished the night with six hits, three in each game, to go along with three RBI’s and four runs scored.

By the end of the night, eight Bulldogs had at least one hit and six had multi-hit games.

“ Our bats are on fire and it’s contagious throughout the whole line-up,” Clark said.

In game one, Fresno State jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, finishing off the Highlanders with the appropriately named mercy rule.

In the bottom of the 6th inning, the Bulldogs had a seven run lead, only one shy of the eight necessary for the mercy rule to take effect.

Freshman catcher Nichole Willis stepped to the plate with one runner on and proceeded to launch the hint-of-lime colored softball over the centerfield fence.

“ I told her, aren’t you glad, this first one is a little nicer in front of everybody,” Southern said.

Nice or not, Southern and the rest of the Bulldogs claim that Willis’ first should be her second.

“ She hit one in Georgia and it was so far over that it was fair, but the umpire couldn’t see it,” Southern said.

“ She does it every day in practice and we were glad she could finally get it here at home,” Southern said.

Game two was more of the same—offense galore. The line score read 10 runs and 15 hits for the Bulldogs, many of which came in the fourth inning.

In the bottom of the fourth, Leticia Pacheco led off with a single, igniting a rally of three runs on four hits before the first out was made.

“ Knowing that we can hit good like this and knowing our pitchers can hold the other team, it’s a great feeling to have,” Clark said.

Wednesday marked the beginning of an 18-game home stand for the Bulldogs, who were anxiously waiting the energy and support the home crowd offers.

“ That’s gonna be nice because we’ve been on the road too long,” Southern said.

The Bulldogs next host Santa Clara today at 6 p.m. at Bulldog Diamond, where they will try to use the momentum of Wednesday’s game to chalk up some more wins.