'Dogs finish sweep
Twenty-one hit effort, including a walk-off hit, caps sweep of Sacramento State
Ryan Tubongbanua / The Collegian
Fresno State’s Beau Mills did his part in the Sunday’s victory over the Hornets, going 4 for 5 with 4 RBIs and two doubles. Mills now has a .308 batting average after Sunday’s effort. |
By Darrell Copeland III
The Collegian
It wasn’t without a scare, but the Fresno State baseball team sent visiting Sacramento State back home winless in the WAC, defeating the Hornets 12-11 in Sunday’s finale.
The visiting Hornets gave Bulldog fans a major scare by putting across three runs in the ninth inning, all earned, and tying the game at 11 going into the bottom of the ninth inning.
The Hornets received a home run in the ninth — one of their three home runs and 15 hits — from senior Kyle Atrat, a former Bulldog who transferred to Sacramento State.
The two teams combined for 36 and 23 runs on a day where pitches left up in the strike zone were hammered for extra-base hits.
“Welcome to Sunday in the WAC,” Fresno State coach Mike Batesole said. “You just never know what’s going to happen on Sunday sometimes.”
The Bulldogs (22-8, 3-0) swept the Hornets (11-19, 0-3) in three games, winning Friday’s game 5-1 before the weekend’s slugfests.
Saturday, the Bulldogs earned a 6-1 victory before Sunday’s scoring 12-11 scoring fest.
Batesole was quick to deflect Sacramento State for making a game of it Sunday, as the Hornets took advantage of every opportunity the Bulldogs game them.
“You’ve got to give them a lot of credit,” Batesole said. We cracked a couple of times and they made us pay.”
Fresno State starter Andy Underwood, who had yet to have a bad outing against a visiting opponent, struggled with his control, walking three batters and surrendering nine hits in five innings of work.
Luckily for Underwood, the Bulldogs offense was up to the task, with six Bulldog batters recording multiple hits, including Beau Mills, who’s injured shoulder is finally allowing him to hit like his old self.
“I feel a lot more confident,” Mills said. "I'm swinging down into the ball instead of just trying to hit the ball."
Mills collected four hits in Sunday’s game, including a game-high four RBIs, but took a backseat to the ultimate hero of the game, Loren Storey.
With two outs in the ninth inning and two runners on base, Storey came through with a two-out single to right field off of a slider, scoring Eric Wetzel for the game-winning run.
The win for the Bulldogs also puts them on a 15-game winning streak, something Storey is proud to be a part of.
“I’ve never won 15 straight in my life, but that was fun,” Storey said.
The Bulldogs will hit the road for the first time in 25 games when they visit New Mexico State for a three-game series.
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