Bulldogs take a pair
Ryan Tubongbanua / The Collegian
With a great assortment of pitches, Fresno State's Andy Underwood dominated Pepperdine Sunday. |
By Darrell Copeland III
The Collegian
THE FRESNO STATE baseball team must have been practicing the hokey pokey, because it has turned itself around with the best of them after this weekend’s series with Pepperdine.
After an 8–3 victory over the visiting Waves, the Bulldogs have now won 4 of their last 6 games, taking 2 of 3 from No. 11 Pepperdine.
A 7–2 loss Friday night did not deter the Bulldogs from pushing on for a series win. Sunday’s victory, combined with a bottom of the ninth 9–8 win Saturday, gave the Bulldogs what they wanted.
The turnaround is evident just in the kind of bounces the Bulldogs now get. Ground balls are finding holes to squeak through on offense, pitchers are now getting the clutch outs and there a noticeable difference in the demeanor of the Fresno State players.
“You can feel the momentum on our side,” Fresno State designated hitter Beau Mills said.
Old mo’, as they call it, could not be any more on the side of the Bulldogs’ Steve Susdorf and Andy Underwood.
“I’m just really happy we’re winning as a team,” Susdorf said.
With Sunday’s series finale concluded, Susdorf’s batting average now sits at .520, and leads the team in both home runs and RBIs.
The latest home run came during an eight-inning blast after receiving a steady dose of curveballs.
“I just luckily ran into one,” Susdorf said.
Luckily for Susdorf, he has been lucky four times already, with Sunday’s blast definitely qualifying as a “big fly.”
Underwood, a junior college transfer from Fresno City College, has been nothing short of spectacular thus far in his young Fresno State career.
Unfortunately for Pepperdine (3–2), Underwood seemingly just picked the Waves as the first victim for his first complete game.
Nine innings, five strikeouts and 108 pitches later and Underwood now carries a 2–0 record and a 1.57 earned run average into next weekends match-up with Utah Valley State.
“As a team, we just love having him on the mound,” Susdorf said. “He’s a great pitcher.”
It’s very unlikely Underwood would disagree with Susdorf—he isn’t surprised by any means of the success he has had in the early going.
“I’m pitching good,” Underwood said.
That is extremely hard to disagree with, especially after Sunday’s effort. A cool 67-percent of Underwood’s 108 pitches were strikes, no matter if it was a fastball, curveball or whatever else he has in his arsenal.
“That’s the story,” Susdorf said. “I mean, he just knows how to get guys out.”
Even when it came down to crunch time, Underwood was up to the task.
With Pepperdine runners in scoring position, Underwood was on. With Pepperdine batters ready for a fastball, Underwood threw them a curve. No matter what the situation called for, Underwood was ready.
“There’s a time to get a curveball over and obviously, a time to step up and put everything you get behind it,” Underwood said.
Knowing the situation is something that every Bulldog player has been adept at lately, and Susdorf doesn’t expect that to change any time soon.
“Everybody’s feeling really well right now,” Susdorf said.
After this weekend’s turnaround, why wouldn’t they?
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