Baseball pounds out a win

By DARRELL COPELAND

What a difference six games make.

After starting off the season 1-9, the Bulldogs have come back to make their record 7-9 with a victory over visiting Loyola Marymount (3-6) on Tuesday.

The Bulldogs hammered out three home runs in a 14-1 victory, including the first ever homer by Fresno State’s Will Thomas. The two-run blast came on a 2-2 fastball, a pitch that Thomas smashed over the left-field fence.

Thomas also recorded two other hits, filling out his box score with a 3-for-4, three-RBI, one-run performance.

Fresno State sophomore Nick Moresi hit his fourth home run of the season, a three-run shot, hit a mile into the Fresno night. The long ball was Moresi’s lone hit of the night.

The third and final home run came courtesy of the Bulldogs’ Christian Vitters, whose first home run of the season gave the Bulldogs a 10-1 lead after three innings.

For the night, Vitters went 4 for 4 with four runs scored and a walk. Vitters, who had scored his previous 10 times on base, failed to do so after he singled in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Vitters seems to be back on track. The freshman All-American is now hitting .271 after starting the season 2 for 22 for a .090 average. Vitters has seven hits in his last nine at-bats for the Bulldogs.

Fresno State’s power surge comes as somewhat of a surprise after scoring 26 runs in a victory over Chicago State, a game that featured no home runs.

The game also featured a brilliant defensive play by the duo of first baseman Doug Fister and pitcher Eddie Romero on a 3-1 putout. On a high chopper hit by the Lions’ Elvis Herrera, the 6-foot-8 Fister made an over-the-shoulder catch, turned around, and flipped the ball to Romero, who ran from the mound to receive the toss.

Romero picked up his first victory of the season, throwing five innings of six-hit ball, and allowed one run, a leadoff blast by Loyola Marymount’s Chris Pettit. Romero also struck out four Lions and walked only one.

The Bulldogs will look to keep the good times rolling as they host Cal Poly for a three-game series this weekend. The series precedes the annual Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic, a weeklong tournament running Monday through Saturday.