Diamond 'Dogs swept by Cal Poly
Fresno State's six-game winning streak ended with three straight losses
over the weekend
By DARRELL COPELAND
There is something going on with the Fresno State baseball team.
The main part is losing; the second part is unspecified.
The Bulldogs (7-12) were swept over the weekend by Cal Poly (13-9), losing
5-3, 7-3 and 9-7, respectively.
The Bulldogs were on a six-game winning streak going into a weekend
series against Cal Poly, but come out on a three-game losing streak
heading into the Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic. Fresno State plays Southern
Utah tonight and Penn on Tuesday. Photo by Joseph Hollak |
There are also some in-house happenings in the Bulldogs’ clubhouse,
as the team had a long meeting before Sunday’s game, headed by coach
Mike Batesole, and ended up skipping batting practice and warmups before
the game.
Batesole was not willing to go into details regarding what took place
behind closed doors.
“[That is] stuff that stays inside the clubhouse,” Batesole
said.
This comes after the six-game win streak that preceded this weekend’s
series, in which Bulldogs third baseman Beau Mills said the team had really
come together off the field.
But there might have been at least one positive that came from the meeting.
Batesole expressed pleasure at the effort his team displayed throughout
Sunday’s game.
“They played the first pitch to the last pitch,” Batesole
said. “I’m very happy with what they did today.”
The team fought back from continuous Mustangs attempts to finish off the
Bulldogs, coming back from 3-0 deficit in the first, answering to a 6-2
lead in the fifth and making one last hurrah facing a 9-6 deficit.
Unfortunately for the Bulldogs, defense once again played a role in the
loss as they committed two errors in Sunday’s 9-7 loss, leading
to two unearned runs — the difference in the ballgame.
For the series, Fresno State faltered nine times on defense, allowing
the Mustangs to capitalize with eight unearned runs.
In Sunday’s finale, two Bulldogs errors and seven Mustangs stolen
bases ended up being the difference in the game. Both teams had 11 hits
and three home runs.
For Fresno State, Christian Vitters, Chase Moore and Ryan Overland combined
for six of the 11 Bulldogs hits and all three Bulldogs home runs, including
Overland’s first career blast. Overland entered the game in the
third inning, replacing Chris Huston, who left the game with pain in his
arm.
The difference maker may have been the Mustangs’ Bret Berglund,
who mastered the art of the delayed steal. Berglund stole four bases in
the game, three of them leading to runs scored.
The Bulldogs begin Pepsi/Johnny Quik Classic play tonight at 7 against
Southern Utah and face Penn at 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
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